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6 Mar 2008 : Column 2726W—continued
Television
Mr. Maude: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many plasma television screens have been purchased by his Department and its agencies, and at what cost, in the last 24 months. [191084]
Jonathan Shaw: From information held centrally, the core-Department plus the Marine Fisheries Agency and Natural England have purchased one LCD and four plasma television screens in the last 24 months at a total cost of £4,149. Further information on expenditure on plasma television screens by all other executive agencies and non-departmental public bodies could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Health
Accident and Emergency Services
Mike Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make it his policy to define the core purpose of each specific unscheduled care service with reference to the British Association for Emergency Medicine's guidelines. [189966]
Mr. Bradshaw: It is a matter for the local national health service to ensure that they provide urgent and emergency care services that are responsive to people's needs.
Decisions about the shape and type of urgent and emergency care services should be taken locally so that services reflect the needs of the local population.
Administrative Delays
Mr. Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what guidance his Department has issued to NHS foundation trusts on the measurement in March of the 18 week referral to treatment waiting time target. [191456]
Mr. Bradshaw: The Department has not issued any guidance directly to foundation trusts on measurement of the March referral to treatment milestone.
Ambulance Services: Canvey Island
Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Health on how many occasions ambulances responding to emergency calls on Canvey Island have been diverted due to temporary road closures resulting from road traffic accidents in the last 12 month period for which figures are available; and if he will make a statement. [191790]
Mr. Bradshaw: This information is not held centrally. It is for the local national health service to decide how best to provide services to the communities they serve, including ambulance services.
The hon. Member may wish to raise this issue with the chief executive of the East of England Ambulance Service NHS Trust.
Carbon Monoxide: Health Hazards
Mrs. Maria Miller: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps have been taken by his Department to increase awareness of the symptoms of carbon monoxide poisoning amongst healthcare professionals. [191886]
Dawn Primarolo: I refer the hon. Member to the written answer I gave to my hon. Friend the Member for High Peak (Tom Levitt) on 30 January 2008, Official Report, column 457W.
Mrs. Maria Miller: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what training is given to trainee doctors to enable them to recognise the symptoms of carbon monoxide poisoning. [191887]
Ann Keen: The Department is not responsible for setting curricula for health professional training. However, we do share a commitment with statutory and professional bodies that all health professionals are trained, so that they have the skills and knowledge to deliver a high quality health service to all groups of the population with whom they deal, whatever their condition.
Post-registration training needs for national health service staff are determined against local NHS priorities, through appraisal processes and training needs analyses informed by local delivery plans and the needs of the service.
Mrs. Maria Miller: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what records his Department holds on levels of non-fatal carbon monoxide poisoning. [191901]
Dawn Primarolo: The Information Centre for health and social care hold records on Hospital Episode Statistics which cover those admitted to hospital with a diagnosis of carbon monoxide poisoning recorded in any primary or secondary diagnosis field.
These do not contain data which would allow determination of whether the admission to hospital proved fatal or non-fatal, because information about a patient, once they are discharged from hospital, is not captured.
Dental Services
David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what percentage of (a) children, (b) adults and (c) all people in (i) England and (ii) each English region were registered with a dentist in each of the last three years. [191508]
Ann Keen: The proportion of the population registered with an national health service dentist, in England, as at 31 March, 1997 to 2006 are available in Annex B of the “NHS Dental Activity and Workforce Report, England: 31 March 2006.” The information is provided by children/adults, and by primary care trust (PCT) and strategic health authority (SHA).
This information is based on the old contractual arrangements which were in place up to and including 31 March 2006. This report was published on 23 August 2006 and is available in the Library and is also available at:
Under the new contractual arrangements, introduced on 1 April 2006, patients do not have to be registered with an NHS dentist to receive NHS care. The closest equivalent measure to ‘registration’ is the number of patients receiving NHS dental services (‘patients seen’) over a 24-month period. However, this is not directly comparable to the registration data for earlier years.
The proportion of the population seen by an NHS dentist is available in Table C2 of Annex 3 of “NHS Dental Statistics for England: Quarter 2, 30 September 2007” report. Information is available for the 24-month periods ending 31 March 2006, 31 March 2007, 30 June 2007, and 30 September 2007. The information is provided by children/adults, and by PCT and SHA.
This report was published on 28 February 2008 and a copy has been placed in the Library and is also available at:
Both reports have been published by The Information Centre for health and social care.
Anne Main: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many dental practices have had to suspend NHS dentistry before the end of the current financial year due to budgetary constraints; and if he will make a statement. [190678]
Ann Keen: Primary care trusts (PCTs) in England agree with dental providers the level of services to be delivered over the course of the year, and their annual contract values. These service levels, once agreed, cannot be changed, unless the provider and PCT agree.
It is for the provider to ensure that the annual service level agreed is delivered in a way that maintains services for patients through the year. The Department does not assess the performance of individual providers. PCTs, as commissioning bodies, are responsible for monitoring the services carried out by their local dental providers.
Anne Main: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what assessment he has made of NHS dentistry provision in Hertfordshire; [190679]
(2) what plans he has to extend provision of NHS dentistry in Hertfordshire. [190680]
Ann Keen: It is for primary care trusts (PCTs) to commission health services including dentistry for their local populations. The hon. Member may therefore wish to raise this with the chief executives of West Hertfordshire and East and North Hertfordshire PCTs.
More generally, increasing the number of patients seen within National Health Service dental services is now a formal priority in the NHS Operating Framework for 2008-09. This has been supported by a very substantial 11 per cent. uplift in overall allocations to PCTs from 1 April 2008.
Dental Services: Children
David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many dental (a) fillings and (b) extractions were carried out on children in (i) England and (ii) each English region in each of the last three years. [191509]
Ann Keen: I refer the hon. Member for Upper Bann to the answer I gave him on 19 October 2007, Official Report, columns 1383-84W.
Dental Services: Finance
David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the cost was of (a) dental fees for items of service and (b) dental treatments in each of the last three years; and how much of the cost was borne by patients (i) in total and (ii) as a percentage of the overall cost in (A) England and (B) each English region in each of those years. [191510]
Ann Keen: Prior to April 2006, primary dental services were provided under either former general dental services (GDS) or former personal dental services (PDS) pilot arrangements. Most services were provided under GDS. Under this system dentists were remunerated on a fee per item of service basis.
In a number of areas, PDS pilots were also established, where dentists were remunerated not on fee per item but on locally commissioned arrangements. The number of GDS practices converting to PDS pilots increased significantly over the years 2004-05 and 2005-06.
The information held by the Information Centre for health and social care on the expenditure by local area for national health service primary dental care under the former GDS and PDS arrangements in 2004-05 and 2005-06 has been placed in the Library.
Equivalent information is not available for 2006-07. Under the new contract arrangements for primary dental care services introduced from 1 April 2006, primary care trusts agree an annual contract value with dental contractors in return for delivery of an agreed level of dental activity. The former item of service fees were discontinued and payments can no longer be itemised by individual treatments.
Departmental Public Expenditure
Ms Keeble: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what proportion of his Department's expenditure was allocated to Government growth areas in the last year for which figures are available. [190957]
Mr. Bradshaw: The following table shows the revenue allocations made by the Department to primary care trusts (PCTs) in the growth areas in 2008-09. The PCT revenue allocations for 2008-09 totalled £74.2 billion. The £12.9 billion allocated to PCTs in growth areas represents 17 per cent. of the 2008-09 PCT revenue allocations. This is 13 per cent. of the total national health service budget for 2008-09.
| PCT name | 2008-09 recurrent allocation (£000) |
Diabetes: Health Education
Anne Milton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what change there has been in his Department's support for self-management of, and education on, the treatment of diabetes since 2007. [190460]
Ann Keen: The Department continues to promote support for self-management and education as key elements of care for people with diabetes.
Since the publication of two departmental and diabetes UK joint reports: Structured Patient Education in Diabetes in June 2005 and Care Planning in Diabetes in November 2006, a support for self-management working group has been set up. The group is looking at ways that local services can develop support for self management, including care planning,
structured education, psychological issues and self-monitoring. We expect that some outcomes of the group’s work will be shared with the diabetes community later in the year.
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