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6 Feb 2008 : Column 1256W—continued
NHS Treatment Centres
Mike Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when he intends to announce a strategy on the future funding of NHS walk-in centres; whether in preparing that strategy he will consider the potential for walk-in centres to be funded by (a) the NHS, (b) local authorities and (c) others; and if he will make a statement. [183567]
Mr. Bradshaw [holding answer 31 January 2008]: The Department continues to look at options for future funding of community based walk-in services. Any proposals to change current arrangements where services are commissioned by national health service primary care trusts and funded from their main allocations will be considered as part of the Primary and Community Strategy and Next Stage Review.
NHS: Expenditure
Mr. Gray: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much was spent per head of the population on health provision (a) in Wiltshire, (b) in Hampshire, (c) in Northumberland, (d) in London, (e) in Gloucestershire and (f) in Oxfordshire in each of the last five years; and what will be spent in each area in each of the next five years. [180099]
Mr. Bradshaw: The Department does not hold the information in the format requested because national health service expenditure is not collected on the basis of counties. However, the total expenditure per head of population within relevant strategic health authority (SHA) areas is contained in the following table. The table goes up only to 2006-07 as the Department does not hold these figures for future years.
| £ per head | |||||
| SHA area | 2002-03 | 2003-04 | 2004-05 | 2005-06 | 2006-07 |
| Notes: 1. Expenditure by SHA area is taken as the total expenditure of the SHA and of PCTs within the SHA area. 2.Expenditure shown does not include all NHS expenditure within the area. Expenditure on general dental services and pharmaceutical services accounted for by the Dental Practice Board and Prescription Pricing Authority, respectively, are excluded from the figures. This expenditure cannot be included within the figures for the individual health bodies as they are not included in commissioner accounts. 3. Figures for Wiltshire and Gloucestershire are contained within those shown for the South West SHA area, Hampshire and Oxfordshire within the South Central SHA area, and Northumberland within the North East SHA area. Sources: 1. Audited SHA summarisation forms 2002-03 to 2006-07 2. Audited primary care trust (PCT) summarisation schedules 2002-03 to 2006-07 3. Office of National Statistics unweighted population figures | |||||
NHS: Finance
Sir John Butterfill: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans he has to review the market forces factor for NHS trusts; and if he will make a statement. [184446]
Mr. Bradshaw: The Advisory Committee on Resource Allocation (ACRA) continually oversees the development of the weighted capitation formula. ACRA's current work programme includes a review of the market forces factor (MFF). The review of the MFF will also inform the MFF adjustments made to providers of national health service services paid for through the national tariff.
Only when this work programme is completed will ACRA finalise its recommendations to Ministers on potential changes to the funding formula. Ministers will then look at all of ACRA's recommendations and decide how to take these recommendations into account when making allocations to primary care trusts (PCTs) for 2009-10 and 2010-11.
We will inform providers and PCTs of the changes to the formula and the revenue allocations as soon as is practically possible after the completion of ACRA's work programme. The aim is to announce revenue allocations to PCTs for 2009-10 and 2010-11 by the summer 2008. The MFF indices applied to providers of NHS services paid for by the national tariff were published on the Department's website on 13 December 2007 as part of the national tariff package for 2008-09 which is available at:
Sandra Gidley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what formula is used to determine the market forces factor. [184841]
Mr. Bradshaw: A detailed technical breakdown of how the market forces factor is generated can be found in ‘Resource Allocation: Weighted Capitation Formula (Fifth edition)’. A copy of this document is available in the Library and also on the Department's website at:
NHS: Fire Prevention
Mr. Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health which NHS organisations failed fire risk assessments in each of the last five years. [184291]
Mr. Bradshaw: National health service organisations are required to comply with fire safety legislation as set out in the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005, which came into effect on 1 October 2006. As part of full compliance with these regulations, it is a requirement that a fire risk assessment is undertaken. In their Annual Statement of Fire Safety, the most recently available of which covers the year to 31 December 2006, five NHS organisations stated that they had enforcement action taken against them by their local fire authorities for failing to provide a proper fire risk assessment within the terms of the legislation.
The NHS organisations in question were:
Salford Royal NHS Foundation Trust;
University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust;
Great Western Ambulance Service NHS Trust;
Liverpool Primary Care Trust; and
Redbridge Primary Care Trust.
Information on the number of NHS organisations failing to undertake fire risk assessments in the four-year period prior to 2006 was not collected centrally.
NHS: Older Workers
Norman Lamb: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the average age was of (a) GPs, (b) consultants, (c) nurses and (d) midwives in the most recent period for which figures are available; and how many from each group he expects to retire in the next 10 years. [182850]
Ann Keen: The following table shows the average age of general practitioners (GPs), consultants, nurses and midwives.
| Average age | |
| (1) General medical practitioners (excluding retainers and registrars) includes GP providers and GP others. Sources: The Information Centre for health and social care Medical and Dental Workforce Census. The Information Centre for health and social care General and Personal Medical Services Statistics. The Information Centre for health and social care non-medical work force census. | |
Under age discrimination legislation there is a default retirement age of 65 but many national health service organisations do not set a retirement age. Most NHS staff including GPs and consultants have a normal pension age of 60 but the average age at which this group take their pension on age grounds is nearly 63. Nurses and midwives who were members of the NHS pension scheme before 1995 have a normal pension age of 55 but an average retirement age on age grounds of 59.
NHS: Public Participation
Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make it his policy to increase the budget for local involvement networks to reflect the increased number of activities undertaken by such networks; and if he will make a statement. [183744]
Ann Keen: The Department received an allocation of £84 million over three years from HM Treasury to fund the establishment and costs incurred by local involvement networks and has no plans to bid for any further funds. The allocations to local authorities (LAs) were based on two elements used in many similar cases to take account of key geographical factors such as deprivation, sparsity, area costs, etc. The first was a general baseline payment of £60,000 awarded to each local authority. The second was calculated according to the Relative Needs Formula, which is used to allocate funding to LAs in other areas of work.
NHS: Reorganisation
Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what steps he is taking to ensure that the Darzi reviews of the NHS are informed by patient and public involvement; [182899]
(2) if he will meet members of the National Association of Patients’ Forums to discuss effective patient and public involvement in his reviews of the NHS; and if he will make a statement. [182900]
Ann Keen: The national health service “Our NHS, our future” Next Stage Review is primarily a local process. Eight clinical pathway groups in each strategic health authority (SHA) region are considering how to improve models of care across eight pathways from maternity and newborn care to end of life care. Local events are being held to ensure that the views and experiences of the public and patients inform the thinking of each clinical working group.
Nationally, a second nationwide day of consultative events was held on 24 January 2008 to test the emerging findings of the clinical pathway groups with around 1,000 staff, patients and the public across the regions. The findings from the consultation events will contribute to each SHA’s vision for healthcare due to be published in the spring.
An online questionnaire has also been launched to capture the views of patients and the public. This is available on the review’s website:
With the establishment of Local Involvement Networks (LINks) in England from April 2008, there will be a strengthened voice for local communities. The Next Stage Review will work closely with the local networks as a key stakeholder and vehicle for engagement at a local level.
Officials responsible for the policy on LINks recently met with the chair and other representatives of the National Association of Patients’ Forums to discuss LINk regulations which are due to be published in the spring.
Non-Ionizing Radiation: Health Hazards
Mr. Simon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what recent research his Department has commissioned on the effects of non-ionising radiation on health. [184892]
Dawn Primarolo: The Department has commissioned, either directly or through the Health Protection Agency, research on the effects of non-ionising radiation in the following areas:
exposure to radiofrequency fields including mobile telephones, terrestrial trunked radio (TETRA) and WiFi;
studies to examine the potential cellular and behavioural effects of radio frequency fields;
measurement of exposures to power frequency fields for population studies of the health effects of power frequency exposures including the United Kingdom childhood cancer study and UK adult brain tumour study;
laboratory studies of the effects of power frequency fields on cells;
development of realistic three dimensional (voxel) models for male, female, and pregnant female, to allow assessment of exposures from electromagnetic field sources at various frequencies;
real-time measurement of ambient levels of ultraviolet (UV) radiation throughout the UK;
studies to examine the effects of different frequencies of UV light on melanocytes and melanoma cells;
measurement of the protection afforded by clothing, shade structures, and UV protective gloves;
assessment of emissions and safety of products such as lasers, compact fluorescent light bulbs, projects for interactive whiteboards and other consumer products;
the Department's Radiation Protection Research (RPR) programme includes both ionising radiation and non-ionising radiation research at power frequencies and intermediate frequencies. Information on the current RPR programme research strategy and research projects can be found on the Department's website at:
the independently managed Mobile Telecommunications and Health Research (MTHR) programme, jointly funded by Government and industry, was set up in 2001 in response to a recommendation in the Stewart report (the Independent Expert Group on Mobile Phones (www.iegmp.org.uk). MTHR has supported a number of studies into the possible health effects of radiofrequency technology relating both to base stations and hand-held mobile telephones. The MTHR programme published its first report in September 2007 www.mthr.org.uk. None of the 23 individual studies funded under this programme to date demonstrates that biological or adverse health effects are produced by radiofrequency exposure from mobile phones or base stations; and
the Department additionally has provided an annual contribution to the World Health Organisation International (WHO) Electromagnetic Fields Project since its inception in 1996. Information on this project can be found on the WHO website at:
Northwick Park Hospital: Standards
Mr. Dismore: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what progress is being made with implementing plans to modernise Northwick Park Hospital. [179017]
Mr. Bradshaw: The local national health service is responsible for the provision of services at Northwick Park hospital.
However, we have been informed by NHS London that proposals for the future of services across North West London, including Northwick Park hospital, are currently under review in the light of the London wide review of services (Healthcare for London) and the North West London review of services, which is being led by local primary care trusts.
Obesity
Mr. Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) how the £372 million funding announced for promoting the achievement and maintenance of healthy weight over the period 2008 to 2011 will be spent, broken down by (a) programme and (b) financial year; [184526]
(2) how much funding he has allocated per annum for the annual assessment of progress on policies to reduce obesity. [184529]
Dawn Primarolo: The total amount of funding that is being made available for the obesity programme is broken down over the next three years as £94 million for 2008-09, £123 million for 2009-10 and £155 million for 2010-11. Some of this money is for central programmes, and we have already announced that £30 million is being used for the Healthy Community Challenge fund and £75 million for marketing both over 2008-09, 2009-10 and 2010-11. The exact breakdown of funding for other central programmes has yet to be agreed.
In addition, a large proportion of funding will go directly to primary care trusts (PCTs) as part of their general allocations. General PCT allocations are not broken down by programme. It will be for the national health service to decide locally how best to deliver the outcomes of the “Healthy Weight, Healthy Lives: A cross-Government Strategy for England”, published January 2008, in line with their local circumstances, including the level of resources required to do so.
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