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29 Feb 2008 : Column 1970W—continued
Cancer: Health Services
Mr. Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will place in the Library a copy of the study referred to in paragraph 7.28 of his Department’s Cancer Reform Strategy on cancer treatments in the United Kingdom and the United States. [175100]
Ann Keen: A copy of the “Audit of Non Surgical Cancer Admissions Report”, (without Appendix B), has been placed in the Library.
Due to the level of detail it contains Appendix B has been withheld to safeguard patient confidentiality.
Cervical and Breast Cancer: Screening
Mr. Jenkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what funding is available to improve the take-up rate amongst women for cervical cancer screening; [187737]
(2) what funding is available to improve the take-up rate amongst women for breast cancer screening. [187738]
Ann Keen: Funding for both breast and cervical screening is allocated to primary care trusts (PCTs) on the basis of the relative needs of their populations, this includes funding for the promotion of screening.
It is for strategic health authorities working in partnership with their PCTs, local screening services and stakeholders to provide appropriate screening services for their local populations and to ensure that they meet national standards.
Community Care: Medical Equipment
Mike Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 5 February 2008, Official Report, column 1066W, on community care: medical equipment, which academic organisations form the consortia who will be assessing the whole system demonstrators. [189595]
Mr. Ivan Lewis [holding answer 26 February 2008]: The Department has been consulting with a number of eminent researchers from leading academic organisations in order to shape the evaluation methodology for the Whole System Demonstrator programme. These organisations include University College London, the London School of Economics, University of Oxford, Manchester University, Imperial College of London, the Kings Fund and Nuffield Trust together with the University of Birmingham.
We are currently engaged in negotiations with these organisations to formalise contractual relationships to deliver this evaluation.
Departmental Consultants
Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what consultancy contracts his Department issued in each year since 2005; what the (a) value, (b) purpose and (c) contractor was in each case; and whether the consultant's report is publicly available in each case. [181885]
Mr. Bradshaw: The Department does not collect information on consultancy contracts in the format requested. To do so would attract disproportionate cost.
Departmental Databases
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what databases are (a) owned and (b) maintained by (i) his Department and (ii) its agencies. [185415]
Mr. Bradshaw:
The Department and its agencies have a number of databases that are used to support its internal management and business processes as well as
the delivery of health and social care. Information relating to what databases are owned and maintained by the Department and its agencies has been placed in the Library.
Departmental ICT
Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many (a) mobile telephones, (b) personal digital assistants and (c) laptop computers issued to departmental staff were reported (i) lost, (ii) missing and (iii) stolen in each year since 2001. [184340]
Mr. Bradshaw: We do not keep figures for missing assets. The figures below are reported losses and thefts, DH do not distinguish between these two groups.
DH Losses / thefts of mobiles, Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs) and laptops 2001-07:
| Financial y ear | Mobile phones | PDA's | Laptops |
Since 2005 all DH laptops been marked with a forensic dye as a proof of ownership and a high visibility label advertising this. Additionally laptops are encrypted to protect any information stored on them and PDAs wipe all the data stored on them after a series of failed attempts to enter the correct user ID and password.
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many of his Department’s personal digital assistants were (a) lost and (b) stolen in each of the last five years; and what the value of those items was. [185273]
Mr. Bradshaw: The Department uses the Blackberry Enterprise Solution personal digital assistants (PDAs) with recommended procedures and configuration from the Government's technical security authority, CESG, as suitable for processing restricted information. This includes guidance on authentication standards and processes to protect information stored on the device. For example PDAs wipe all the data stored on them after a series of failed attempts to enter the correct user ID and password.
The Department does not distinguish between losses and thefts.
| DH reported losses / thefts for the period April 2002 to March 2007 | ||
| Financial year | PDAs | Cost (£) |
Departmental Retirement
Stewart Hosie: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many staff in his Department retired on grounds of stress-related illness in each of the last three years. [187499]
Mr. Bradshaw: In each of the last three years, fewer than five individuals in the Department retired on grounds of stress-related illness.
Departmental Sick Pay
Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the cost of sickness pay to staff within his Department was in the most recent year for which figures are available. [187517]
Mr. Bradshaw: The annual report “Analysis of Sickness Absence in the Civil Service 2006-07” reports the Department as having an average number of working days lost per staff year of 6.4. This equates to a salary cost of just under £2 million.
General Practitioners: Working Hours
Mr. Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many hours per 1,000 patients GP surgeries opened for on average per week in the latest period for which figures are available. [188580]
Mr. Bradshaw: The Department does not hold figures on numbers of opening hours of general practitioner (GP) practices.
We have asked primary care trusts (PCTs) to carry out a baseline audit of current availability of current GP practice opening so that it is possible to measure the success of our aim of 50 per cent. of GP practices in each PCT are offering extending opening hours.
Health Services: Thames Gateway
Andrew Mackinlay: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 5 February 2008, Official Report, columns 1062-3W, on health services: Thames Gateway, whether changes to the levels of funding allocated to each of the primary care trusts in the Thurrock area have been made as a result of it being designated as a growth area by the Department for Communities and Local Government. [188287]
Mr. Bradshaw: A “growth area adjustment” is included in revenue allocations to primary care trusts (PCTs). This money is to support the development of sustainable communities and is for those PCTs that are going to experience considerable population growth as a direct consequence of the additional housing development in the growth areas. This adjustment is based on the additional increase in population, over and above Office of National Statistics population projections, that is due to the Government initiative. South West Essex PCT benefits significantly from a growth area adjustment to its weighted capitation target.
Hearing Impaired: Standards
Mr. Betts: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will consider introducing an 18-week target for all patients with hearing and balance disorders to be assessed by the appropriate specialist. [188886]
Mr. Bradshaw: Patients referred for surgical or medical consultant-led care, will be covered by the target of treatment within 18 weeks of referral by December 2008. Local health bodies will not be credible in claiming success on meeting the 18-week target if large numbers of patients are affected by long waits for audiology treatment. From April 2008, the Department will collect information on waits for direct access audiology treatment for patients who are referred directly to audiologists or clinical scientists in audiological medicine.
Honours
Mr. Pope: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many members of the Senior Civil Service in his Department have received an honour. [187126]
Mr. Bradshaw: The number of honours awarded to senior civil servants currently employed at the Department over a five-year period from the new year of 2004-08 is as follows:
Companion of the Order of the Bath (CB): two;
Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE): eight; and
Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE): five.
Data are not routinely kept by Department on:
the number of awards held by individuals;
awards that are not related to official duties; and
awards already held by staff before joining the Department.
Hospitals: East of England
Mr. Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many acute hospital beds per head of population there were in (a) the former Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire Strategic Health Authority area, (b) the East of England Strategic Health Authority area, (c) the former Suffolk West Primary Care Trust area and (d) Suffolk Primary Care Trust area in each year since 1997. [187619]
Mr. Bradshaw: Information is not available in the format requested. The following table shows the average daily number of available acute beds per 100,000 population for the period 2002-03 to 2006-07 for the organisations requested. Acute bed numbers will go down over time because of changes to the way services are delivered in the national health service (for instance, more services being provided in the community).
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