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11 Jun 2008 : Column 285W—continued
Diamorphine
Lynne Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 25th February 2008, Official Report, columns 1198-99W, on diamorphine, who the suppliers of diamorphine to the NHS are; how many ampoules of each strength were supplied by each company in the first quarter of each year from 2002 to 2006; and what these were in each case as a percentage of historic demand. [207684]
Mr. Bradshaw: There are currently three suppliers of diamorphine injection to the UK market:
Auralis Ltd.;
Novartis Pharmaceuticals UK Ltd.; and
Wockhardt UK Ltd.
The information to provide the breakdown in sales by supplier is not collected centrally.
Fairtrade Initiative
Mr. Moore: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 22 February 2008, Official Report, column 1072W, on the Fairtrade initiative, what Fairtrade products are (a) available for purchase at his Department's staff catering facilities and (b) regularly offered at official departmental meetings and engagements. [208694]
Mr. Bradshaw: The Department has the following items available for purchase through staff catering facilities: Geobars, cereal bars and bananas.
Only bananas are offered at official meetings and engagements.
Mr. Moore: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 22 February 2008, Official Report, column 1072W, on the Fairtrade initiative, how much and what proportion of revenue from his Department's staff catering facilities was from sales of Fairtrade products in each of the last three financial years. [208695]
Mr. Bradshaw: No figures are available for previous years. Figures are currently being collected for the current financial year.
Food
Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when he expects to finalise the Healthy Food Code of Practice outlined in his Department's Healthy Weight, Healthy Lives Strategy. [207795]
Dawn Primarolo: We are working with the Food Standards Agency on development of proposed outcomes and goals necessary to implement the Healthy Food Code of Good Practice and will be liaising with stakeholders to agree and finalise these during 2008.
General Practitioners: Working Hours
Greg Mulholland: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what provisions there will be under GP contracts when opening hours are extended to ensure practices are available and appropriately staffed during core hours. [209796]
Mr. Bradshaw [holding answer 9 June 2008]: General practitioner (GP) practices are extending their opening hours by entering into enhanced service agreements with their primary care trusts (PCTs) as part of their contractual arrangements. An overriding principle in entering into such agreements is that practices should maintain standards of access and availability during contracted core hours. GP practices remain contractually required to provide essential, and where appropriate, additional primary medical services that are appropriate to meet the reasonable needs of their patients within core hours. Where they do not meet those requirements, they may be judged by their PCT to be in breach of their contract.
Hospital Beds: Milton Keynes
Mr. Lancaster: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many beds (a) in total and (b) per head of population were available at Milton Keynes hospital in each year since 1997. [210126]
Mr. Bradshaw [holding answer 10 June 2008]: The information requested is shown for Milton Keynes General Hospital NHS Trust in the following table. Data have been provided for beds per 1,000 population.
| Bed availability at Milton Keynes General Hospital NHS Trust, 1996-97 to 2006-07 | ||
| Number of available beds in wards open overnight and day only | Number of available beds in wards open overnight and day only per 1,000 pop | |
| Note: Milton Keynes General Hospital NHS Trust became a foundation trust on 1 October 2007, but this is not reflected in the table as the latest published data are for 2006-07. Source: Bed availability data: Department of Health data set KH03; Population data: Office for National Statistics mid-year estimates for Milton Keynes Unitary Authority. | ||
Hospitals: Transport
Greg Mulholland: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will publicise the extension of the hospital travel costs scheme to all who are eligible for the scheme; and if he will establish a mechanism to monitor the uptake of the scheme. [209797]
Mr. Bradshaw [holding answer 9 June 2008]: The Hospital Travel Costs Scheme was extended on 1 April 2008 to allow eligibility to the scheme to encompass referrals made by doctors and dentists, in addition to the existing referrals through a consultant. To reflect these changes the scheme was renamed the Healthcare Travel Costs Scheme.
A number of marketing and communications activities aimed at raising awareness both within the national health service and with those who would be eligible to access it have been undertaken as part of the relaunch of the scheme. We have developed and made available patient information leaflets and posters for display in NHS hospitals and treatment centres. We have also developed patient information cards which will be provided to general practitioner (GP) and dental surgeries for distribution to patients. We have written to the NHS, GPs and dentists informing them of the changes to the scheme and the requirements placed on them within regulations to manage its delivery. Instructions and guidance has been made available on the Department's website to assist them in this function, This information is available at:
In addition, voluntary sector organisations have also been consulted on, and informed of, scheme revisions to ensure that information is available to those who need it.
We are currently developing a performance management regime that will monitor and evaluate the effectiveness of these actions on the uptake of the scheme, while ensuring that the minimal administrative burden is placed on the NHS.
Hospitals: Waiting Lists
Matthew Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the median waiting time was for (a) an outpatient first appointment and (b) an inpatient appointment in (i) Cornwall, (ii) each parliamentary constituency in Cornwall, (iii) the south-west region and (iv) England in the most recent period for which figures are available. [209674]
Mr. Bradshaw: The information is shown in the following table. Figures are collected at primary care trust (PCT) level and therefore no information is available for constituencies in Cornwall.
| Median in - patient and out - patient waiting times Cornwall, south-west and England, April 2008 | |||
| Weeks | |||
| Cornwall and Isles of Scilly PCT | South West Strategic Health Authority | England | |
| Notes: 1. The figures show the median waiting times for patients still waiting at the end of the period. 2. Outpatient waiting times are measured from a general practitioner referral to a first outpatient appointment by the consultant. 3. Inpatient waiting times are measured from decision to admit by the consultant to admission to hospital. 4. Median waiting times are calculated from aggregate data, rather than patient level data, and therefore are only estimates of the position on average waits. Source: Monthly monitoring return - commissioner based | |||
Monitor: Healthcare Commission
Mr. Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what the policy objectives are of retaining Monitor and the Healthcare Commission as separate entities; and if he will set out the objectives of each organisation; [209590]
(2) if he will merge Monitor and the Healthcare Commission. [209592]
Mr. Bradshaw: Subject to parliamentary approval, the Health and Social Care Bill will establish the Care Quality Commission. From April 2009, the new Commission will take over from the Healthcare Commission, the Commission for Social Care Inspection and the Mental Health Act Commission.
The two regulatory bodies will have different and very specific roles.
The Care Quality Commission will be responsible for regulating services across the health and adult social care sectors. The new Commission will have a number functions including assuring safety and quality across all types of provider of health and adult social care. It will have enforcement powers it can use when a provider is not complying with essential safety and quality requirements.
There are no plans to change the role of Monitor (the statutory name of which is the independent regulator of NHS foundation trusts). Monitor will continue its specific role of authorising and regulating national health service foundation trusts to ensure that they meet the requirements for governance, financial stability and delivery of mandatory services set out in their terms of authorisation.
NHS European Office
Sandra Gidley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much was provided by each strategic health authority to fund the NHS European Office in Brussels in 2007-08. [207827]
Dawn Primarolo: The NHS European Office is part of the NHS Confederation and is funded by the strategic health authorities. It was established in September 2007 to inform NHS organisations of key European Union developments and to help the national health service to respond to EU policy and legislative developments on a strategic level. Specific information on funding allocated to the NHS European Office is not held centrally.
Further information about the NHS European Office and its activities and funding is available at its website at:
NHS: DHL
Mr. Oaten: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to his answer of 15 May 2008, Official Report, column 1668W, on the NHS: DHL, what percentage of the £1 billion expected savings has been achieved to date. [209985]
Mr. Bradshaw [holding answer 10 June 2008]: To the end of March 2008, the percentage of the expected savings achieved was ahead of target at 1.3 per cent.
The savings escalate over the 10-year term as they are driven by increasing turnover and contract renewals. The savings are expected to be significantly lower in the first five years compared to the second five years of the term.
NHS: ICT
Mr. Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) how much his Department plans to spend on Connecting for Health in each of the next 10 financial years; [205220]
(2) how much of the £0.9 billion Connecting for Health revenue budget in 2007-08 was spent. [205221]
Mr. Bradshaw: I refer the hon. Member to the reply given to the hon. Member for Eddisbury (Mr. O’Brien) on 7 January 2008, Official Report, columns 123-24W.
Outturn revenue expenditure for 2007-08, subject to audit, was £0.503 billion.
Mark Pritchard: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the cost was of the financial penalties incurred for the early termination of the NHS IT contract with Fujitsu. [208999]
Mr. Bradshaw: The direct financial consequences for both parties resulting from the Department's decision to issue a notice to terminate the contract with Fujitsu Services Limited as local service provider under the National Programme for Information Technology, will be established in the period ahead. The Department and Fujitsu are committed to seeking a resolution of outstanding matters by agreement if possible, and this process has begun.
Osteoporosis
Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will (a) include treatment for osteoporosis in the GP quality outcare framework and (b) increase the level of funding for such treatment. [209625]
Mr. Bradshaw: My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State announced on 5 May 2008 that the Government are consulting the British Medical Association (BMA) on proposals to invest an extra £100 million on improving clinical services and access for patients. The Government propose to invest an extra £50 million in enhanced clinical services, which would include improving the diagnosis and treatment of osteoporosis according to the best practice guidelines set out by the National Institute for Clinical Excellence. The amount of investment in each area is subject to consultation with the General Practitioners Committee of the BMA.
We expect the content of the Quality and Outcomes Framework for 2009-10 to be, as usual, a matter for consultation between NHS Employers and the BMA, informed by the independent expert panel.
Salt: Health Education
Mr. Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much has been spent on the Sid the Slug campaign; and what (a) mechanisms, (b) baselines and (c) targets have been established to measure the effectiveness of the campaign. [207031]
Dawn Primarolo: The total cost of the Sid the Slug campaign was £4,204,000.
To measure effectiveness of the campaign, specific pre and post campaign tracking research was established using RSGB face-to-face adult omnibus survey which interviews a nationally representative sample of adults 16-years-old and over in the United Kingdom. The pre- campaign research set a baseline on awareness and claimed behaviour. Targets based on these baselines were set. These were:
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