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3 Mar 2008 : Column 2100W—continued


General Practitioners: Enfield

Joan Ryan: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many patients were seen by out of hours GP services in (a) Enfield and (b) Enfield North in each of the last 10 years. [190174]

Mr. Bradshaw: Information on the number of patients seen by out of hours general practitioner (GP) services is not collected centrally. Primary care trusts (PCTs) now have a legal responsibility to ensure that they provide or secure provision of out of hours services for their local population. The right hon. Member may therefore wish to approach the Chief Executive of Enfield PCT who might be able to provide data on the number of patients seen by local out of hours GP services.

The NHS London Strategic Health Authority reports that Enfield PCT is in the process of trying to agree extended opening hours with all its practices.

Health Visitors

Mr. Kidney: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of trends in recruitment and retention of health visitors in the NHS over the last 10 years. [188822]


3 Mar 2008 : Column 2101W

Ann Keen: The following table shows the number of health visitors in the national health service in England over the last 10 years.

The number of health visitors has remained static over the last 10 years but there has been significant growth in the overall number of nurses working in primary and community care settings in both 2005-06 of 1,039 (1 per cent.) and since 1997 of 29,543 (38.2 per cent.).

Work force planning in terms of the recruitment and retention of health visitors is a matter for local work force planners in local primary care trusts and strategic health authorities as they are best placed to asses the health visiting needs of their local population.

The following table shows the age profile of health visitors as at September 2006.

Health visitors employed in the NHS (England) as at September each year (headcount)and (full time equivalent (FTE))
Headcount FTE

1997

12,410

10,030

1998

12,570

10,070

1999

12,800

10,160

2000

12,827

10,046

2001

13,053

10,186

2002

12,774

9,912

2003

12,984

9,999

2004

13,303

10,137

2005

12,818

9,809

2006(1)

12,034

9,376

(1) More accurate validation in 2006 has resulted in 232 headcount duplicate records being identified and removed from the non-medical census.
Source:
Department of Health Non-Medical Workforce Census

3 Mar 2008 : Column 2102W

Age profile of health visitors as at September 2006
Health visitor Headcount

Under 25

13

25 to 29

274

30 to 34

672

35 to 39

1,402

40 to 44

2,257

45 to 49

2,590

50 to 54

2,126

55 to 59

1,588

60 to 64

672

65 and over

89

Unknown

351

All staff

12,034


Mr. Kidney: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what proportion of health visitors suffered work-related stress in the latest year for which records are available; and what assessment he has made of how this compares with the incidence of work-related stress amongst other categories of health workers. [188823]

Ann Keen: The information requested is not collected centrally and no assessment has been carried out. Local trusts are responsible for the welfare of their employees and supporting them in performing their role.

HIV Infection

Jim Cousins: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 19 February 2008, Official Report, column 676W, to the hon. Member for Middlesbrough, South and East Cleveland (Dr. Kumar) on HIV infection, how many new cases of HIV there were in the City of Newcastle. [190916]

Dawn Primarolo: The information requested, which is available at local authority level, is shown in the following table.

Number of first United Kingdom HIV diagnoses, Newcastle city council, 1997-2006
Age group 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006

0 to 14

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

15 to 24

0

<5

<5

5

4

7

13

6

12

8

25 to 34

11

9

5

8

13

18

33

34

29

23

35 to 44

5

5

7

9

13

21

24

24

33

15

45 to 54

6

0

<5

<5

<5

9

7

10

9

9

55+

5

<5

<5

<5

<5

<5

<5

<5

7

<5

Total

27

18

19

24

33

56-59

78-81

75-78

90

56-59

Notes: 1. Ranges are provided where one or more cells have a count under five. This is done to remove the possibility of deductive disclosure of an individual's identity. For the same reason, data are provided by age group rather than specific age. 2. Cumulative data are as reported by the end of June 2007. Numbers will rise as further reports are received (particularly for more recent years). 3. Data will include many individuals who have been infected with HIV outside the UK, but who have been subsequently diagnosed in the UK. Source: Health Protection Agency.

Humberside Breast Screening Unit

David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when the Humberside Breast Screening Unit will have screened every woman in its area within the 36 month target time period. [189457]

Ann Keen: The national target is to achieve 90 per cent. of eligible women being recalled within a 36-month interval.

The Yorkshire and the Humber strategic health authority (SHA) reports that following an extensive review and the development of a service redesign and expansion plan, improvements to performance have already been seen in the Humberside service. It is expected that significant progress will continue to be made, with the achievement of the national target by April 2009. If it is possible to achieve this earlier, efforts will be made to do so.

We take the issue of the 36-month standard between screens very seriously and early last year, Professor
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Mike Richards, the National Cancer Director, wrote to the chief executives of all 10 SHAs in England highlighting the importance of maintaining the 36-month interval.

The “Cancer Reform Strategy” also reinforces the need to maintain the 36-month standard, noting that primary care trusts will need to invest more in breast screening to ensure that women are screened within the 36-month standard.

Infectious Diseases

Norman Lamb: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what records his Department holds of incidents of healthcare-associated infections outside hospitals and care homes; and how many such cases there were in each of the last five years. [187199]

Ann Keen: The information requested is not available.

However the Health Protection Agency’s (HPA) enhanced surveillance scheme for methicillin resistant staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) bloodstream infections, introduced on 1 October 2005, collects information on where the patient was located when the specimen was taken but it is not possible from this to reliably attribute infection to specific settings. The HPA analysed the first six months of enhanced data in “Mandatory Surveillance of Healthcare Associated Infections Report 2006” available at:

A copy of the report is available in the Library. Most patients were admitted from home and two thirds of blood stream infections were detected two or more days after admission which indicates that these were acquired in the trust.

Information on the patient location for Clostridium difficile infection has been collected since April 2007 and the HPA aim to publish an analysis of this later this year.


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Maternity Services

Mr. Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health which maternity units changed from consultant-led to midwife-led in each year since 1997. [188183]

Ann Keen: The information requested is not collected centrally. However, the latest information we have is that there are 181 maternity units in hospitals and 101 midwifery units (33 of which are co-located, and 68 are stand alone in the community). A total of 282 maternity units.

Medical Treatments: Finance

Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate he has made of the number of people in England who have had privately funded proton radiation beam therapy (a) in England and (b) abroad. [188662]

Ann Keen: No estimate has been made of the number of people in England who have had privately funded proton radiation beam therapy in England and abroad.


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