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2 Apr 2008 : Column 1130W—continued
Nurses: Disciplinary Proceedings
Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what measures are in place to prevent someone from re-entering nursing in the NHS when they have previously been deemed unsatisfactory for the nursing profession. [195716]
Ann Keen: In order to work as a nurse, a person must be registered with the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC). If the NMC determines that a registrant is unfit to practise, they will be removed from the register and it would then be illegal for them to continue to practise as a nurse.
If a nurse who has been struck off wants to get back onto the register, they cannot apply for restoration before a period of five years has elapsed. Before restoring a person to the register, the Practice Committee must be satisfied the person holds an approved qualification and satisfies the registrar that they are capable of safe and effective practice as a nurse.
Nurses: Training
Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the levels of bursaries for student nurses. [196087]
Ann Keen: The Department provides non-repayable national health service bursaries and pays the tuition fees in full for the majority of nursing students undertaking programmes leading to professional registration. The NHS Bursary rates are reviewed annually and since 1998 the NHS Bursary has been increased each year, in September 2007 the uplift was 2.33 per cent.
The Department has worked in partnership with stakeholders to develop a package of changes to update and modernise the current NHS student Bursary Scheme.
Obesity
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate he has made of the proportion of the population of (a) England and (b) Romford constituency that is clinically obese. [196670]
Dawn Primarolo: Information on the proportion of the population of England that are clinically obese is collected in the Health Survey for England.
“Health Survey for England 2006: Volume 1 Cardiovascular disease and risk factors in adults” pages 98-99 published on 31 January 2008 show that 24 per cent. of adults (aged 16 or over) in England were classified as obese. This publication has been placed in the Library.
Obesity rates in Romford are not available.
Neighbourhood statistics published in December 2007, provide estimated prevalence of obesity among adults aged 16 and over, along with associated confidence intervals for Havering local authority are shown in the following table. These estimates are taken from Model-Based Estimates of Healthy Lifestyle Behaviours, and are for combined years 2003 to 2005.
The proportion of people who are obese in Havering was not found to be statistically different to England.
| Table 1: Model-based estimates of obesity prevalence, 2003 to 2005 | |
| Percentages | |
| (1) The national estimate is derived directly from the Health Surveys for England 2003 to 2005 (with associated Confidence Intervals) and therefore is not a model-based estimate. Source: Model-Based Estimates of Healthy Lifestyles Behaviours, 2003 to 2005. Neighbourhood Statistics, Office for National Statistics (ONS) | |
Patient Choice Schemes
Mr. Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what percentage of general practitioner referrals to first consultant-led outpatient services were made through the choose and book system in each month since its inception; [195316]
(2) what are the latest available figures for the percentage of general practitioner referrals to first consultant-led outpatient services made through the choose and book system. [195317]
Mr. Bradshaw: April 2006 is officially when the national rollout of choose and book began. National rollout was the commencement of primary care trust trajectory plans. The following table gives the percentage of general practitioner referrals to first outpatient services made through choose and book each month since national roll-out started.
| Percentage | |
Physiotherapy
Sandra Gidley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate he has made of the number of physiotherapists qualifying in 2007 who have not been employed by the NHS. [197867]
Ann Keen: The number of physiotherapy graduates from 2006 and 2007, registered in the newly qualified health care professionals pools, as looking for their first post in the national health service has fallen from a peak of 771 on 10 September 2007 to its current figure of 430 on 18 March 2008.
Prescriptions: Fees and Charges
Norman Lamb: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) how many people were prosecuted for illegally claiming exemption from NHS prescription charges in each of the last five years; [197942]
(2) what estimate he has made of the cost of prescription fraud to the NHS in each of the last five years; [197943]
(3) what estimate he has made of the number of people illegally claiming exemption from NHS prescription charges in each of the last five years. [197944]
Ann Keen: Since August 2001, a penalty charge system has been in place in respect of those falsely claiming exemption to national health service prescription charges. Financial recoveries are made in the first instance through a cost effective civil process rather than by criminal prosecution. There is an option for repeat offenders to be dealt with through criminal proceedings and to date there has been one criminal prosecution, in 2004.
Information on the number of people falsely claiming exemption from NHS prescription charges and the cost of prescription fraud to the NHS is not available in the format requested.
The NHS Counter Fraud Service (CFS) undertakes fraud risk measurement exercises on a statistically valid number of prescription exemption claims. These exercises are repeated to capture reductions in losses due to anti-fraud work. The last such exercise in England took place in 2002-03. This showed the number of claims found to be fraudulent to be 1.6 per cent. and that the loss to the NHS through prescription fraud had been reduced from £117 million in 1998-99 to £47 million in 2002-03. A further risk measurement exercise will be undertaken in 2008-09.
Pressure Sores
Mr. Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what plans he has to introduce a preventative programme to reduce the incidence of leg ulcers; [196819]
(2) how many people were treated for leg ulcers in England in each of the last three years; and what the cost of such treatment was in each year. [196820]
Ann Keen: This information is not collected centrally and there are no plans to introduce a national preventative programme.
Tissue viability is a vital component of nursing care for patients, and one in which there is a strong body of evidence about effective treatment. Nurses receive training in this during their preparation for registration, and as part of their continuing professional development. They have access to specialist tissue viability nurses who provide training as well as expert advice in the care of individual patients.
“Essence of Care”, published in 2003, sets benchmarks for pressure ulcers in health and social care settings, and helps health care professionals to devise appropriate care plans. A copy of the publication is available in the Library. The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence has published detailed clinical guidelines on pressure ulcer management in primary and secondary care. It is the responsibility of local health bodies to ensure that this guidance is implemented.
Rackspace
Mr. Hands: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the total value was of each contract awarded to Rackspace by (a) his Department and (b) its agencies in each of the last nine years. [197504]
Mr. Bradshaw: Neither the Department nor its agencies have awarded contracts to Rackspace in the last nine years.
Radiography: Training
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many junior doctors trained as (a) radiologists and (b) radiographers in each of the last five years. [196671]
Ann Keen: The number of junior doctors who trained as radiologists in the last five years are shown in the following table. The number has increased by 25 per cent. from 831 in 2002-03 to 1,035 in 2006-07.
| Number of junior doctors training as radiologists | |
The number of training places for radiographers in the last five years are shown in the following table. The number has increased by 64 per cent. from 948 in 2001-02 to 1,555 in 2005-06.
| Number of radiographers in training | |
Radiographers are Allied Health Professionals rather than qualified medical staff, and as such are not classified as junior doctors.
Redcar and Cleveland NHS Primary Care Trust: Finance
Dr. Kumar: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much from the public purse has been spent on the part financing of the development of New Skelton Health, in the Redcar and Cleveland NHS Primary Care Trust. [195677]
Ann Keen: Responsibility for local health services lies with the local national health service. It is the responsibility of primary care trusts (PCTs) in partnership with strategic health authorities and other local stakeholders to plan, develop and improve services for local people.
Details of the financing of the new Hillside Medical Centre can be obtained from the Redcar and Cleveland PCT.
Sanitary Waste Disposal
Martin Horwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what (a) statutory and (b) other guidelines apply to the disposal of sanitary waste in private care homes; and which body is responsible for monitoring compliance; [197653]
(2) whether sanitary waste is included in his Department's definition of clinical waste. [197654]
Mr. Bradshaw: Statutory responsibility for environmental and waste legislation rests with the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. The management of waste, its storage, carriage, treatment and disposal and health and safety requirements are governed by legislation, including the Hazardous Waste Regulations and Lists of Waste Regulations 2005. The Environment Agency is the regulatory body for compliance.
The Department has produced guidance document Health Technical Memorandum (HTM) 07-01 “Safe management of health care waste” that includes advice on the disposal of sanitary waste appropriate to private care homes. The term ‘sanitary’ waste is defined as ‘offensive/hygiene waste’ in HTM 07-01. The guidance is applicable to all producers of health care waste and not only the national health service. A copy of HTM 07-01 is available in the Library and is also available at:
‘Offensive/hygiene’ waste describes waste which is non-infectious and which does not require specialist treatment or disposal, but which may cause offence to those who come into contact with it, such as sanitary or ‘sanpro' waste. The guidance provides advice based on assessment procedures to determine the medicinal, chemical, infectious and offensive properties of health care waste to ensure waste is disposed at appropriately licensed facilities.
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