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28 Feb 2008 : Column 1903W—continued
NHS: Finance
Andrew George: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 14 January 2008, Official Report, columns 1027-8W, on NHS: finance, (1) when was it agreed that the work programme of the Advisory Committee on Resource Allocation would include a review of the market forces formula; and what timetable was originally set for the work programme; [184306]
(2) when he expects the Advisory Committee on Resource Allocation to publish the results of its work programme. [184307]
Mr. Bradshaw: The Advisory Committee on Resource Allocation (ACRA) continually oversees the development of the resource allocation formula. ACRA’s work programme is set following each allocation round. The elements of ACRA’s current work programme were agreed in November 2005.
The intention was for ACRA to finalise its work programme by autumn 2007. However, although
ACRA has made good progress on some major aspects of its work programme, it has requested, and been granted, additional time to finalise the work that it is doing to review the formula. Given the importance of the weighted capitation formula it is crucial that ACRA is given the time required to produce a robust and transparent formula.
Only when its 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 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.
NHS: Hearing Impaired
Mr. Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps the Government has taken to increase the number of NHS audiovestibular physicians since 1997. [189145]
Ann Keen: Workforce planning is a matter for local determination, as local workforce planners are best placed to asses the needs of their local population. The Department continues to ensure the frameworks are in place to support this.
National health service audiovestibular physicians are within the audiological medicine specialty, but cannot be separately counted. The number of medical staff within the audiological medicine specialty has increased from 46 in 1997 by 56 per cent. to 72 in 2006.
NHS: Pay
Danny Alexander: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate he has made of the average salary paid to staff falling under each of the pay bands under the Agenda for Change programme in each year since 2004. [187090]
Ann Keen: The Information Centre produces quarterly estimates of staff earnings across the Agenda for Change programme. These are published and available at:
The latest estimates, based on payments to staff between July and September 2007, are:
Data are not available before 2007 for Agenda for Change groups, as data from the electronic staff record did not cover a sufficient sample of organisations until January 2007.
NHS: PFI
Mr. Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health with reference to the answer of 9 March 2007, Official Report, column 2288W, on the NHS: private finance initiative, how much was spent on each of the cancelled projects. [184301]
Mr. Bradshaw: Central records on abortive development costs to national health service trusts and payments to the private sector for abortive bid costs are only kept on private finance initiative (PFI) schemes with a capital value of over £25 million. These costs to the NHS trusts and payments to the private sector on each of the cancelled projects referred to in the answer of 9 March 2007, Official Report, column 2288W, above this threshold are as follows:
In the written answer given on 3 December 2007, Official Report, column 1005W, we reported that one scheme had been mistakenly omitted from the list of cancelled schemes given in the answer of 9 March 2007, Official Report, column 2286W. This was the £250 million PFI scheme at East Kent Hospitals NHS Trust; the trust reported that their abortive development costs were approximately £432,000.
Nutrition
Mr. Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate he has made of the proportion of the (a) adult and (b) child population consuming five portions of fruit and vegetables every day in each of the last five years. [184285]
Dawn Primarolo: The Health Survey for England reports figures on 5 A DAY Consumption each year. The latest updates for the year 2006 were published on 31 January 2008.
Figures for the proportion of the population consuming 5 A DAY between 2002 and 2006 are shown in the following table.
| Percentage | |||||
| 5 A DAY Consumption | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 |
Nutrition: West Midlands
Mr. Jenkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many nutritionists were employed by the NHS in (a) Tamworth constituency and (b) the west midlands in each of the last five years for which figures are available. [187735]
Ann Keen: The Department does not centrally hold data on the number of nutritionists employed by the national health service. However, data for the West Midlands Strategic Health Authority (SHA) area, Mid Staffordshire General Hospitals NHS Trust and South Staffordshire Primary Care Trust (PCT) in relation to qualified dietetics staff have been set out in the following table.
| NHS hospital and community health services: Qualified dietetics staff in each specified organisation as at 30 September of each specified year. | |||
| NHS organisations within the west midlands SHA area | of which Mid Staffordshire General Hospitals NHS Trust | of which South Staffordshire PCT | |
| Notes: 1. South Staffordshire PCT was formed on 1 October 2006 from a complete merger of Burntwood, Lichfield and Tamworth PCT. 2. Cannock Chase PCT, East Staffordshire PCT and South Western Staffordshire PCT. Figures prior to 2006 are an aggregate of these predecessor organisations. Source: The Information Centre for health and social care Non-Medical Workforce Census. | |||
Obesity
Mr. Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 6 February 2008, Official Report, column 1264W, on obesity, how much of the £94 million allocated in 2008-09 will go directly to primary care trusts as part of their allocations. [188509]
Dawn Primarolo: Of the £94 million allocated to obesity in 2008-09, £65.9 million has been put into the overall local allocations for primary care trusts for 2008-09.
Obesity: Medical Treatments
Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much the NHS spent on (a) obesity-related medication, equipment and treatment, excluding surgery, (b) obesity surgery and (c) secondary medical problems arising from severe obesity in the last three years. [187697]
Dawn Primarolo: Data on the costs of equipment and treatment within the national health service is not held centrally. However, we do know the cost of prescriptions for medication classed as drugs used in the treatment of obesity dispensed in England. The figures for the latest three years are shown in the following table (costs are net ingredient cost and are expressed in thousands of pounds).
| £000 | |||
| 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | |
| Notes:(1) No record of drug being dispersed. (2) Drug not available for prescription until 2006. | |||
We can also provide figures for use of orlistat and Sibutramine in hospitals. These figures are derived at by pricing information on issue of medicines from a sample of hospital pharmacies and have been positively appraised by the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence. These costs do not necessarily represent what hospitals paid as hospitals can negotiate their own contracts. The figures are in thousands of pounds.
| £000 | |||
| Chemical | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 |
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