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30 Jun 2008 : Column 657W—continued
General Practitioners: Working Hours
Mr. Dunne: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many GPs in each constituency are offering extended opening hours. [213628]
Mr. Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what proportion of GP surgeries are open at 7 p.m. (a) on weekdays and (b) at weekends; and if he will make a statement. [213648]
Mr. Bradshaw: Information in the form requested is not held centrally. For the purposes of monitoring, the Department of Health is collecting on a monthly basis the numbers of general practitioner practices in each primary care trust area which offer extended opening hours, but this does not set out the opening hours of individual practices as this will depend on local patients’ preferences. Statistics on extended opening hours are being published on a monthly basis, and, to date, May 2008 data are available, and copies have been placed in the Library.
Andrew Selous: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what pilots of extended opening hours for GP surgeries have been undertaken by his Department; and what lessons have been learned. [214413]
Mr. Bradshaw:
The Department ran six pilots, as part of its Innovation in Primary Care Contracting Programme. The pilot aims were to: improve access to general practitioner (GP) services; provide more services from a greater range of providers closer to where patients live;
and to encourage recruitment of GPs in areas with historic low levels. These pilots included offering longer opening hours, and valuable lessons were learnt and used to inform future centrally and locally supported procurements of GP services.
Currently, 20 per cent. of practices in England are offering extended opening hours to their patients, and where these have been running for some time, they have proved popular with patients and GPs alike. Analysis of NHS Choices data shows that where practices deliver extended opening, neighbouring practices are twice as likely to follow suit.
Health Centres
Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what plans he has to establish polyclinics in the Leicester Primary Care Trust area; [213094]
(2) what assessment he has made of the likely effects on (a) GP surgeries and (b) hospitals of the establishment of a polyclinic in the same primary care trust area; [213095]
(3) what estimate he has made of the average cost of opening a polyclinic; [213096]
(4) which stakeholders will be consulted upon decisions regarding the establishment of polyclinics; [213098]
(5) what involvement local GPs will have in the creation of a polyclinic; [213099]
(6) what plans he has for public consultation on the establishment of polyclinics in the Leicester area; [213100]
(7) what health care services available in hospitals will be made available at polyclinics; [213101]
(8) what health care services are available at GP surgeries he proposes to make available at polyclinics. [213102]
Mr. Bradshaw: The Government do not have a polyclinic policy. Primary care trusts (PCTs) have been asked to commission general practitioner (GP)-led health centres that provide core GP services, that are open from 8 am to 8 pm, 365 days a year and that can be used by anyone either with an appointment or on a walk in basis. Any services provided above and beyond this will be decided locally depending on local needs.
It is for PCTs to determine the local impact and to ensure maximum benefits for their populations. We have consistently emphasised the need for strong public and clinical engagement in making decisions on the location of these new services and the range of services they provide. However the precise nature and scope of the consultation should be determined locally.
Collectively PCTs will be allocated £120 million to deliver at least one GP-led heath centre. Costs will vary locally, largely depending on what services the PCT decides to provide above and beyond the core services.
Leicester PCT is establishing a new GP-led health centre and three new GP practices in its under-served areas. Extensive public consultation is being carried out to determine the location and services that will be delivered. The process is ongoing.
Health Centres: Essex
Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what polyclinics are planned to be established in (a) Southend West constituency and (b) each primary care trust in Essex; and if he will make a statement; [212420]
(2) what discussions he (a) has had and (b) plans to have with general practitioners in Southend on polyclinics; and if he will make a statement. [212422]
Mr. Bradshaw: The Government do not have a polyclinic policy. Primary care trusts (PCTs) have been asked to provide at least one general practitioner (GP)-led health centre in their areas that will be open from 8 am to 8 pm, 365 days a year and that can be used by anyone either with an appointment or on a walk in basis.
It is for PCTs to set out their proposals for these new GP led health centres following consultation with patients, GPs and others, which focus on local needs and preferences. My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State has no current plans to meet GPs in Southend to discuss polyclinics.
Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what financial assistance his Department has made available to primary care trusts in Essex to develop polyclinics; and if he will make a statement. [212421]
Mr. Bradshaw: A £250 million access fund was secured for the national health service through the comprehensive spending review process to support the delivery of general practitioner (GP)-led health centres in every primary care trust (PCT) and 100 new GP practices in the most poorly served PCTs. £120 million of this is for health centres and will be included in PCT allocations. A weighted capitation formula is used to determine each PCT’s target share of available resources to enable them to commission similar levels of health services for populations in similar need. PCT allocations are a general allocation and are not broken down into individually identifiable sums for specific policy areas. PCT allocations for 2009-10 and 2010-11 have not yet been finalised but will be announced in due course.
Health Centres: Peterborough
Mr. Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what new funding will be made available to support the establishment of a GP-led health centre facility in the Peterborough Primary Care Trust area; and if he will make a statement. [214221]
Mr. Bradshaw:
A £250 million access fund was secured for the national health service through the comprehensive spending review process to support the delivery of general practitioner (GP)-led health centres in every primary care trust (PCTs) and 100 new GP practices in the most poorly served PCTs. Collectively, £120 million of this is for health centres and will be included in PCT allocations. A weighted capitation formula is used to determine each PCT’s target share of available resources to enable them to commission similar levels of health services for populations in similar need. PCT allocations are a general allocation and are not broken down into individually identifiable sums for specific policy areas. PCT allocations
for 2009-10 and 2010-11 have not yet been finalised but will be announced in due course.
Health Services: Norwich
Dr. Gibson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will undertake an assessment of the effects on existing health services in Norwich should the proposed GP-led health care centre be established. [213486]
Mr. Bradshaw: It is for primary care trusts to determine the local impact of the general practitioner-led health centre and to ensure maximum benefits for their populations. We have consistently emphasised the need for strong public and clinical engagement in making decisions on the location of these new services and the range of services they provide. However the precise nature and scope of the consultation should be determined locally.
Hospital Wards
Mr. Dunne: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many hospital wards have (a) opened and (b) closed in each constituency in each year since 1997-98. [213632]
Mr. Bradshaw: The information requested is not collected centrally. The Department collects data on the number of beds in the national health service. This information is routinely published on the Department's website at:
Hospitals: Admissions
Mr. Crausby: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many non-attendees there were for (a) outpatient appointments and (b) in-patients and day case admissions in NHS hospitals in the latest period for which figures are available. [214483]
Mr. Crausby: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate he has made of the number of hospital non-attendees for (a) out-patients and (b) in-patients and daycare admissions in the latest period for which figures are available. [213634]
Mr. Bradshaw: The number of ‘did not attend’ for out-patient appointments (both first and subsequent) for the year 2007-08 was 5,308,297. The number of ‘failed to attend’ for in-patient and day case admissions for 2007-08 was 97,022.
Hospitals: Infectious Diseases
Mr. Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people died in NHS hospitals from infections and viruses acquired in hospital on average each week in (a) the North West and (b) the UK in the last 12 months. [213649]
Ann Keen:
The information requested is not available as death certificates record the place where a person dies but not where any infections may have been acquired. It is not possible from the information on a death certificate to know whether an infection was acquired in
the hospital or other place where a patient died. Patients are often transferred between hospitals, nursing/care homes and other establishments and may acquire infections in a different place from where they died.
The Office for National Statistics publishes analyses of deaths in England and Wales where meticillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) or Clostridium difficile is mentioned on the death certificate but these data do not indicate if the infection was acquired in hospital or elsewhere. The latest year for which figures are available is 2006, the data are published in Health Statistics Quarterly 37, copies of which are available in the Library.
Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill
David Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Health with reference to the definitions of the terms (a) pronucleus and (b) embryo given by the Minister of State in the Public Bill Committee on the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill on 3 June 2008, Official Report, columns 13 and 24, for what reason those definitions do not follow the definitions set by the Appeal Committee of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority. [214500]
Dawn Primarolo: The definitions set by the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority’s Appeal Committee are based upon an understanding of the scientific difference between the pro-nuclei and a nucleus of an embryonic cell. The Bill sets out to ensure that, for the purposes of legislation, the terms pro-nucleus and nucleus are equivalent, to ensure the provisions regarding the genetic modification of human embryos apply equally to single cell embryos as they do to embryos at a later stage of development.
Leicester General Hospital
Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what reports he has received on the process of disposal of the site of the former Leicester General Hospital, with particular reference to the involvement of interested parties. [213829]
Mr. Bradshaw: The future of the Leicester General Hospital is a matter for University Hospitals Leicester NHS Trust working together with primary care trusts in Leicestershire. Plans for the future of Leicester General Hospital will be subject to full stakeholder engagement and public consultation in due course.
Medical Records: Data Protection
Mr. Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when he expects sealed envelope software to be available for testing in each of the main established GP systems; and what plans he has to pilot sealed envelope software within established discrete GP databases before being rolled out to databases accessible by multiple providers. [212182]
Mr. Bradshaw:
We expect general practitioner (GP) information technology system suppliers to begin compliance work for sealed envelope software following the next release of the software which is expected before
the end of 2008. We are aware that some GP systems suppliers already provide similar functionality in existing products.
The current intention is that the same implementation approach will be used as with the summary care record, that is through assessment in early adopter sites. Final details have yet to be confirmed.
Mr. Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether patients are obliged to have their data recorded on the National Care Records Service. [212187]
Mr. Bradshaw: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave him on 22 April 2008, Official Report, column 1990W.
Medical Records: Databases
Mr. Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what guidance he has issued on the application of the provisions of section 10 of the Data Protection Act 1998 to (a) the processing of data on any component of the national care records database and (b) patient requirements not to record clinical information on databases accessible by users not directly involved in their care. [213290]
Mr. Bradshaw: Guidance aimed at all general practitioners, entitled “Guidance on Managing Requests for no Summary Care Record During the Period of the Early Adopter Programme” was issued for distribution via primary care trusts in March 2007. It included the following statement:
“However .... people do have a legal right to have objections to the creation of their Summary Care Record considered, as provided under section 10 of the Data Protection Act 1998 (http://www.opsi.gov.uk/ACTS/acts1998/80029-b.htm#10). As the current Data Controller for general practitioner records, each practice is legally responsible for responding to these objections, which are referred to as section 10 notices.”
Detailed guidance on the application of section 10 of the Data Protection Act 1998 has not been issued by the Department as the Information Commissioner’s website provides extremely clear and helpful material relevant to all processing of personal data.
Mr. Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether detailed care records will be available from clusters other than those in which they originate. [213293]
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