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16 May 2008 : Column 1820W—continued
| Patients waiting for elective cardiothoracic surgery, Greenwich PCT: end of quarter two 2007-08 (commissioner based) | |
| Patients still waiting at quarter end, by weeks waiting | |
| Source: Department of Health form QF01. | |
Hospital Wards: Gender
Mr. Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps he plans to take to eliminate mixed-sex accommodation in the NHS. [205266]
Ann Keen:
“The NHS in England: The Operating Framework for 2008-09”, requires primary care trusts to review their current situation and agree, publish and implement stretching local plans for improvement in
delivering single sex accommodation, with identified timescales and monitoring mechanisms. The Framework specifically requires that patient survey results, where available, be used as the monitoring mechanism. Copies of the Framework are available in the Library.
Hospitals: Cleaning Services
Stephen Hesford: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what hospital inspections have taken place in Merseyside to ensure compliance with the hygiene code since 2006; on what dates such inspections were conducted; and if he will make a statement. [204937]
Ann Keen: The information requested is not held by the Department.
Hospitals: Infectious Diseases
Mr. Allen: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps are being taken to implement the Rapid Review Panel recommendations on healthcare technologies capable of reducing healthcare-acquired infection into clinical practice at trust level; what budget has been allocated for this purpose; and how uptake of such technologies will be monitored. [204116]
Ann Keen: A wide range of new programmes is being implemented to support the Rapid Review Panel as a consequence of the Healthcare Associated Infection Technology Innovation Programme launched in the Clean, safe care strategy (January 2008). Copies of the strategy are available in the Library. Technologies with a Rapid Review Panel recommendation 1 are being placed in showcase hospitals around the country for periods up to six months for the purpose of evaluating in-use features and providing feedback to the national health service in the form of ready made adoption business cases. Such technologies are also subject to an accelerated placement in the NHS supply chain catalogue.
The budget for the first phase is still being finalised as discussions with suppliers are ongoing but indicative costs for the purchase of technologies are estimated to be £1.4 million and the cost of providing local NHS expertise to manage the projects at the hospitals is £700,000 for a 12 month period.
Uptake will be reviewed through information provided by the NHS supply chain where this is appropriate. Plans are also being developed to provide support to technologies that have Rapid Review Panel 2 and 3 recommendations.
Mr. Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many product assessments the Rapid Review Panel has undertaken since December 2003; how many assessed products were recommended to his Department for use (a) in the NHS and (b) by the NHS Purchasing and Supplies Agency; and how many products in use by the NHS were recommended by the panel. [205204]
Dawn Primarolo: The Rapid Review Panel (RRP) has undertaken 207 assessments since its first meeting.
Seven products have demonstrated sufficient basic research and development, validation and recent in use evaluations to enable the RRP to make a recommendation to the Department that the product should be made available to national health service bodies. This is a recommendation one.
Of the seven products given a recommendation one, six products have been made available to the NHS by the NHS Purchasing and Supply Agency via the NHS Supply Chain and are contained in their product supply catalogue.
The Department does not have full information on the use of these three recommendation one products as infection control products do not have to be purchased through NHS Supply Chain. NHS trusts are free to choose which products to purchase and will maintain their own records.
The NHS Purchasing and Supplies Agency does not recommend particular products.
Oral Cancer: East of England
Mr. Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what resources he plans to allocate to the East of England region to provide training for dentists in detecting the early signs of oral cancers in the next three years; [205399]
(2) what in-service training in the detection of oral cancers for dentists in the East of England region his Department is funding in 2008-09. [205400]
Ann Keen: Postgraduate dental deans determine priorities for the continuing education and training of dentists within block allocations made by the Department. However, as the diagnosis of oral cancer is included in the curriculum for the basic training of dental undergraduates in accordance with the ‘First Five Years’ published by the General Dental Council, specific courses on detection and diagnosis are not routinely included in postgraduate training programmes. However, we understand it is the policy of the postgraduate dental deanery for the east of England to include and update training in the detection of oral cancer in relevant training programmes for groups of dentists like vocational dental trainees. The deanery also makes available copies of the distance learning programme ‘Early Detection and Prevention of Oral Cancer’ funded by the Department and published in 2007.
Organs: Donors
Mike Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate he has made of the number of viable human organs available under the NHS Organ Donor Register that were not used for a transplant operation in each year since 1997. [204475]
Ann Keen: The following table provides the number of viable human organs procured by organ, that were not used for a transplant operation, in each year since 1997. This includes those organs not used for administrative or recipient reasons. It does not include those organs considered not viable for reasons of the donor or the organ itself.
| 1997 | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | |
Ovarian Cancer: Screening
Ms Hewitt: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the Government's policy is on detection of and screening for ovarian cancer; and what the criteria are for deciding when to start screenings. [205298]
Ann Keen: The Government will introduce ovarian cancer screening as and when research demonstrates that screening saves lives and is cost-effective. The UK National Screening Committee is advising us on this issue and we are keeping it under review.
A research study, the UK Collaborative Trial of Ovarian Cancer Screening, jointly funded by the Department, the Medical Research Council and Cancer Research UK, is under way looking at two possible techniques for screening for ovarian cancer and is due to report in 2010, with full results not expected before 2012.
Spinal Injuries: Health Services
Ms Hewitt: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what support is available for people with spinal cord injuries and their families; [205299]
(2) what steps are being taken to improve the Spinal Cord Injury Service. [205300]
Ann Keen: Those with spinal injuries are able to access the full range of health and social care, including specialised treatment and rehabilitation services in a dedicated spinal injury unit where appropriate.
We are not aware of any specific steps being taken to improve services for those with spinal cord injuries.
Home Department
Airports: Customs Officers
Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many Border and Immigration Agency staff on average were on duty each day after 10.00 pm at (a) Manchester, (b) Coventry, (c) Luton, (d) East Midlands and (e) Doncaster airport in the last 12 months. [194542]
Mr. Byrne: This information cannot be disclosed as this could provide information of value to those seeking to circumvent immigration controls, thereby prejudicing the prevention and detection of immigration offences.
Asylum
Justine Greening: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what discussions her Department has had with the Department for Communities and Local Government on costs to local authorities arising from the Border and Immigration Agency’s Case Resolution Programme. [204185]
Mr. Byrne: There have been frequent ongoing discussions between the UK Border Agency and the Department for Communities and Local Government over the management of work to resolve the backlog of asylum cases on stakeholders, including local authorities.
Borders: Personal Records
Mr. Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if she will provide a breakdown by offence of the arrests made under Project Semaphore of the e-Borders programme. [203607]
Mr. Byrne [holding answer 6 May 2008]: Alerts issued by e-Borders have resulted in over 1,700 arrests. A breakdown of arrests by offence is as follows:
| Offence type | Number over period January 2005 to March 2008 |
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