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7 Feb 2008 : Column 1464W—continued
Hull and East Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust: Clostridium Difficile
Mr. Graham Stuart: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many cases of clostridium difficile were reported in the Hull and East Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust area in each of the last 10 years; and if he will make a statement. [180782]
Ann Keen: The mandatory surveillance system operated for the Department by the Health Protection Agency (HPA) provides data on the number of reports of Clostridium difficile ( C. difficile) infection. All acute national health service trusts in England are obliged to report all cases of C. difficile infection processed by their laboratories and the data are published at trust level.
Mandatory surveillance of C. difficile was introduced in 2004 for patients aged 65 and over and has been extended to all patients aged two and over from April 2007.
The HPA publishes these data on their website so this information and any further information on the number of C. difficile infections for NHS acute trusts is available at:
www.hpa.org.uk/infections/topics_az/hai/Mandatory _Results.htm
The mandatory surveillance data on C. difficile and methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus has been placed in the Library. These will be updated each quarter.
Human Papilloma Virus: Vaccination
Dan Rogerson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many human papilloma virus vaccines have been administered since the scheme was first introduced. [185458]
Dawn Primarolo: Latest data from electronic prescribing analysis and costs indicate that 2,974 doses of human papilloma virus (HPV) vaccines had been prescribed up to November 2007.
The routine HPV immunisation programme starts in September 2008.
Local Involvement Networks
Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what steps he plans to take to support the involvement of patients and the public in monitoring the effectiveness of services provided for the NHS by (a) the third sector and (b) the private sector; and if he will make a statement; [182778]
(2) if he will make it his policy to ensure that the Local Involvement Network Regulations 2008 require private sector providers of health and social care to allow members of local involvement networks reasonable access to their premises for the purpose of viewing and monitoring the quality of health and social care. [182782]
Ann Keen:
The Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Act 2007, set out important new arrangements for the involvement of patients and the public in health and social care, including Local
Involvement Networks (LINks). LINks will enable local people to monitor local services irrespective of who provides them.
LINks will build on the work of voluntary and community sector groups; and, enable genuine involvement of a far greater number of people than is currently available, ensuring local communities have a stronger voice in the process of commissioning health and social care and enabling them to influence key decisions about the services they both use and pay for.
In order to ensure that independent sector providers—be they from the private or third-sector—cooperate with LINks, we will make Directions requiring primary care trusts and local authorities to ensure that their contracts with the independent and third sectors allow LINks entry to appropriate premises and access to appropriate information. This will ensure that LINks will have the same levels of access as they do in the public sector.
These changes are aimed at promoting open and transparent communication between communities and the health service, and will develop trust and confidence, increasing accountability to local people.
Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps he plans to take to promote (a) the involvement of and (b) consultation with patients and the public who receive NHS services through (i) third sector and (ii) independent sector organisations. [182903]
Ann Keen: Under section 242 of the NHS Act 2006, all national health service organisations are required to involve service users in the planning, development and operation of health services. This duty does not apply directly to third sector and independent sector organisations.
NHS organisations which commission services from the third and independent sector must specify in their contractual arrangements that service users shall be systematically involved in the planning, development and operation of services and that such involvement shall be evidenced and reported as part of contract performance.
The involvement of users in services provided by third sector and independent sector organisations shall be developed and promoted in the forthcoming statutory guidance for section 242 to be published in summer 2008.
Macular Degeneration
Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people were certified as blind due to macular degeneration in (a) Hampshire and (b) England in each of the last five years, broken down by age bands. [184060]
Ann Keen: This information is not collected centrally.
Malnutrition
Mr. Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many adverse events relating to malnutrition have been reported in the NHS between (a) October 2005 and September 2006 and (b) October 2006 and September 2007. [170055]
Ann Keen: Information Centres do not hold any information relating to malnutrition. The closest thing they could provide is the prevalence of those who are underweight, but these are not available for the dates specified, the latest data would be for 2005 and we have reservations about using data on the numbers of people who are underweight as an indicator of malnutrition.
Hospital episodes statistics team are not able to provide anything either, particularly as it is not clear what is meant by an ‘adverse event’ and are not sure whether malnutrition would be picked up as a primary or secondary diagnosis anyway.
Mass Media
Mr. Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will place in the Library a copy of his Department's national media evaluation reports for December 2006 to December 2007; and if he will publish the reports on his Department's website. [184562]
Mr. Bradshaw: No national media evaluation reports have been produced for the Department since November 2006.
All reports prior to that date have been published and can be found on the Department's website at:
Mental Health Services: Community Care
Mr. Walker: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what support will be made available to those people who no longer meet the criteria for the services provided under the care programme approach following changes to that programme. [184176]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: The report of the review of the Care Programme Approach (CPA) has not yet been published. The criteria for eligibility for mental health services is not set by CPA guidance, so these will not be affected by any changes to CPA guidance.
Mid Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust: Finance
Mr. Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 29 November 2007, Official Report, column 724W, on Mid Yorkshire hospitals NHS Trust: finance, if he will place a copy of the PricewaterhouseCoopers report in the Library. [182586]
Ann Keen: The PricewaterhouseCoopers report into the financial position of Mid Yorkshire hospitals NHS trust was commissioned in order to inform Ministers and officials as to the possible solutions for the repayment of the historic debt in the trust.
This report is still being used to inform Ministers and officials as part of this financially challenged trust review process and as such, we feel the release of the report may prejudice their ability to rely on free and frank advice that is contained within.
In addition the report contains a detailed breakdown of the trusts financial position including valuations on the organisations assets and liabilities, which if made public may harm the organisation in future negotiations with commercial partners.
Music: Industrial Health and Safety
Bob Russell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will commission research into the risks to hearing of the amplification level of recorded music broadcast in the workplace; and if he will make a statement. [180728]
Mrs. McGuire: I have been asked to reply.
The Health and Safety Executive is responsible for research on occupational health risks to hearing from noise in the workplace. It has no plans to commission research into the risks to hearing arising from the amplification level of recorded music broadcast in the workplace. Risks to hearing from exposure to high levels of sound are well understood, and are not generally considered to be dependent on the source or type of sound.
Neurology
Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many practising neurosurgeons there are in England. [178723]
Ann Keen: The latest published annual national health service workforce census showed there were 187 consultants working in neurosurgery in England in 2006. In addition there were eight associate specialist and staff grades in neurosurgery. There were also 358 doctors in training or equivalent grades working in neurosurgery in England.
Maternity Services
Ms Keeble: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what research he has (a) commissioned and (b) evaluated on the health (i) services and (ii) procedures provided for infants from birth to first birthday in different primary care trust areas. [179765]
Ann Keen: The joint Department of Health and Department for Children, Schools and Families Family Nurse Partnership intervention supports vulnerable first time young mothers from the 16th week of pregnancy until the child is aged two years. It is being piloted across in England at 10 sites. An evaluation of the first year of the pilots is being undertaken by the University of London, Birkbeck and is scheduled to be published in April 2008.
Mr. Leech: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many babies were born in NHS hospitals in England in each month since January 1997, broken down by (a) stage of gestation at birth and (b) birth weight. [182274]
Ann Keen: Information is not available in the format requested. The following table shows the latest information on live births by birth weight and gestational age at birth.
| Live births by birth weight and gestational age at birth, England and Wales, 2005 | ||||||
| Birth weight (grams) | ||||||
| Gestational age (weeks) | All | Under 1,000 | 1,000 to 1,499 | 1,500 to 2,499 | 2,500 and over | Not stated |
| Source: Office for National Statistics | ||||||
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