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10 Jun 2008 : Column 147W—continued
The number of patients seen in the first three quarters of 2007-08 is available in Table Cl of Annex 3 of the report “NHS Dental Statistics for England: Quarter 3: 31 December 2007”. Information is provided by SHA and by PCT. Table C2 contains patients seen as a percentage of the population, for the first three quarters of 2007-08. This report, published on 5 June 2008, has been placed in the Library and is available at:
Under the new dental contract, information is not available by constituency.
All of these reports have been published by the Information Centre for health and social care.
Departmental Vetting
Chris Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether (a) UK citizens born in the UK, (b) UK citizens born abroad and (c) foreign nationals recruited to his Department and its agencies are subject to (i) UK and (ii) overseas criminal record checks; and if he will make a statement. [206470]
Mr. Bradshaw: For United Kingdom citizens born in the UK, the Department and its agencies (the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency and the NHS Purchasing and Supply Agency) use the Her Majesty's Government Baseline Personnel Security Standard (BPSS) for all new entrants. This includes verification of unspent criminal record declarations. We apply the criminal check element of the BPSS through self-declaration, whereby we ask individuals to provide all unspent criminal record information on a Criminal Record Declaration form. Any concerns are followed up.
For UK citizens born abroad, in addition to UK citizens born in the UK we require original documentation to establish proof of residence for time spent abroad. We also ask for an account of any significant periods of time living abroad, i.e. six months or more in the past three years.
For foreign nationals, in addition to UK citizens born abroad we carry out additional checks on eligibility for employment under the Civil Service Commissioners rules on appointment. This generally covers individuals from European Economic Area countries and commonwealth countries. We also check work visas to ensure that the individuals can work in the UK and that the visa covers them for the period of their appointment with the Department.
Epilepsy
Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether the Government plan to establish a national monitoring centre to conduct research into sudden unexplained death in epilepsy. [209984]
Ann Keen: The Government have no plans to establish a national monitoring centre to conduct research into sudden unexplained death in epilepsy; however, I have agreed to meet with Epilepsy Bereaved to discuss these issues.
Mr. Truswell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what monitoring his Department undertakes of the incidence and causes of sudden unexplained deaths in epilepsy. [209843]
Ann Keen: The Department does not monitor the incidence or causes of sudden unexplained deaths among patients with epilepsy. However, I have agreed to meet with Epilepsy Bereaved to discuss this matter further.
Eyesight: Schools
Sandra Gidley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the level of provision of eye tests in schools; whether he plans to increase the number of tests provided in schools; and if he will make a statement. [209196]
Ann Keen: We have made no assessment of eye tests carried out in schools.
The Child Health Promotion Programme published in April 2008, recommends that all children aged between four and five years should be screened for visual impairment by an orthoptist-led service. Copies of this publication have been placed in the Library and are also available on the Department’s website at:
National health service funded sight tests carried out at high street opticians practices are available for all children under the age of 16 and for young people aged between 16 to 18 in full-time education.
Food
Mr. Peter Ainsworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much food waste his Department generated in each of the last five years; and if he will make a statement. [208141]
Mr. Bradshaw: The amount of food waste generated in the Department of Health are as follows:
| April to March each year | Tonnes |
Figures for the period prior to April 2006 are not available.
General Practitioners: Lincolnshire
Mr. Morley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what records he holds of operating surpluses of GP practices in the North Lincolnshire Primary Care Trust area. [209132]
Ann Keen: The requested information is not held centrally.
Hemel Hempstead Acute Hospital
Mike Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what plans there are for the future of the (a) accident and emergency unit, (b) stroke unit, (c) cardiac unit, (d) intensive care unit and (e) high dependency unit at Hemel Hempstead Acute Hospital; and if he will make a statement; [208496]
(2) whether he plans to close specific wards at Hemel Hempstead Acute Hospital; and if he will make a statement. [208497]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: Plans for services at Hemel Hempstead hospital are the responsibility of West Hertfordshire Hospitals NHS Trust. The provision of health services is a matter for the local national health service working in conjunction with clinicians, patients and other stakeholders. The hon. Member may therefore wish to raise any concerns with the chief executive of West Hertfordshire Hospitals NHS Trust.
NHS: Cleaning Services
Lynne Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 7 May 2008, Official Report, column 1019W, on NHS: cleaning services, if he will provide figures on decontamination reprocessing of surgical instruments and compliance with the standards contained within the Medical Devices Directive (93/42/EEC), broken down by acute trust, indicating where services are (a) contracted out to the private sector and (b) provided in-house. [206321]
Ann Keen: Where decontamination services are undertaken only for internal use by the same national health service trust or other NHS body, policy requires compliance with the ‘essential requirements’ of the medical devices directive (93/42 EC) and associated regulations.
Where NHS units provide services to other NHS bodies, or to independent sector providers, they are subject to the full requirements of the Medical Devices Regulations 2002 (SI 618) and 2003 Amendments (SI 1697). In these instances, the unit will be subject to a third party audit programme by a recognised notified body. Notified bodies are designated by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency who also regularly audit their performance. The MHRA does not collate or receive information completed by a notified body on its routine audit of such reprocessors. Should a reprocessor no longer comply with the appropriate requirements, the notified body may revoke their approval and inform the MHRA accordingly. This specific information on individual registrations is not available for public disclosure under article 20 of the medical devices directive (93/42 EC).
The Healthcare Commission has regulatory responsibility for health care standards and as part of an annual health check, requires all NHS trusts to assess their performance against a set of core standards which include references to the medical devices directive (MDD) (93/42 EEC), and to publicly declare this information. The Healthcare Commission supplements this self-assessment with feedback from a variety of local stakeholders including patient and public involvement forums, local authority overview and scrutiny committees, strategic health authorities and, in the case of foundation trusts, boards of governors.
The Declarations of Compliance for acute trusts for 2006-07 (the latest available) have been placed in the Library.
Data on the sterile services activity are collected annually from NHS organisations on a voluntary basis for benchmarking purposes and the latest available data have been placed in the Library.
It is the responsibility of each individual NHS trust to make suitable arrangements for decontamination services. Data on the number of trusts who contract this work out are not routinely collected centrally. However, the following trusts are taking part in the NHS National Decontamination Programme:
Birmingham Children's Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
Birmingham Dental Hospital (South Birmingham Primary Care Trust)
Birmingham Women's Healthcare NHS Trust
Bradford Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
Calderdale and Huddersfield NHS Trust
Christie NHS Hospitals Trust
Good Hope Hospital (now part of the Heart of England NHS Foundation Trust)
Heart of England NHS Foundation Trust
North Cheshire NHS Hospitals Trust
Sandwell and West Birmingham Hospitals NHS Trust
South Manchester Foundation Trust
The Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust
The Royal Orthopaedic Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
Trafford Hospital NHS Trust
University Hospitals of South Manchester NHS Foundation Trust
University Hospital Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust.
NHS: Consultants
Mike Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many NHS consultants per capita there were in (a) the Dacorum Borough Council area and (b) Hertfordshire in each year since 1997. [210157]
Ann Keen: Information is not held in the format requested. Information is held at national health service trust level. Hertfordshire comprises East and North Hertfordshire Primary Care Trust (PCT), East and North Hertfordshire NHS Trust, Hertfordshire Partnership NHS Trust, West Hertfordshire Hospital NHS Trust and West Hertfordshire PCT. Information is not held at borough council level.
The following table shows numbers of NHS medical and dental consultants per 100,000 population in Hertfordshire since 1997.
| Hospital and Community Health Services: headcount of medical and dental consultants in Hertfordshire | |
| Consultants per 100,000 population | |
| Note: The majority of consultants work for hospital trusts, which are not defined by geographical boundaries, Consequently it is not possible to calculate the number of consultants per capita by hospital trust. Source: The Information Centre for health and social care Medical and Dental Workforce Census. Population calculation based on mid year population estimates (2001 Census based) Office for National Statistics. | |
NHS: Finance
Norman Lamb: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the running costs of each strategic health authority were in 2007-08. [207645]
Mr. Bradshaw: The running costs allocated to each strategic health authority (SHA) in 2007-08 are shown in the following table.
| SHA management costs allocated, 2007-08 (including estates advisers) | ||
| SHA | £000 | |
Nurses: Schools
Mr. Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 29 April 2008, Official Report, column 275W, on nurses: schools, how many nurses are based in schools, broken down by local education authority. [209877]
Ann Keen: This information is not held centrally.
A table showing the number of primary care trusts (PCTs) and national health service trusts who employ qualified school nurses from 2004 to 2007 has been placed in the Library. School nurses were identified for the first time in the 2004 annual workforce census.
School nurses are generally employed by PCTs although some school nurses will be directly employed by both state and independent schools. The NHS Workforce Census does not capture these. A number of qualified school nurses will also work coterminously across PCT boundaries but be directly employed by one single PCT.
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