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1 July 2008 : Column 866W—continued
Eurostar
Mr. Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much his Department and its agencies spent on (a) first and (b) other class travel by Eurostar in the last 12 months for which figures are available. [187749]
Mr. Bradshaw: In the 12 month period from January 2007 to December 2007 the spend on travel by Eurostar for the Department and its agencies is as follows:
| £ | |
General Practitioners
Lynne Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Health for what reason existing GP practices are not able to expand to meet Government requirements for equitable access. [214444]
Mr. Bradshaw: The additional funding provided to primary care trusts in poorly served areas is to secure additional new primary care capacity through an open and fair transparent procurement process. This does not preclude existing general practitioner (GP) practices putting forward tenders to expand existing services and capacity that meet local service specifications. Existing GP practices have also seen an increase in investment in their practices of over 50 per cent. since 2003-04 and could have invested more of these resources into increasing available GPs and nurses to local patients but have chosen not to. That continues to be one of the reasons why, since the inception of the national health service, there has been a continuing disparity in the numbers of primary care clinicians practicing between our best and most poorly served areas.
Health Services: Disadvantaged
Tony Lloyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what guidance he intends to give to the National Advisory Committee on Resource Allocation on the need to protect the flow of funding to those areas with the greatest health deprivation. [215705]
Mr. Bradshaw: The development of the weighted-capitation formula, used to inform primary care trust (PCT) revenue allocations, is continually overseen by the Advisory Committee on Resource Allocation (ACRA). An independent committee comprising national health service management, general practitioners and academics.
ACRA’s objectives are to develop a funding formula for revenue allocations that:
ensures equal opportunity of access to health care for people at equal risk; and
contributes to the reduction in avoidable health inequalities.
ACRA has recently completed a review of the main elements of the formula. The aim is to publish the outcome of the review alongside the announcement of the 2009-10 and 2010-11 PCT revenue allocations, before summer recess.
Health Services: Yorkshire and the Humber
Mr. Greg Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when he plans to announce his decision on the reconfiguration of maternity and cardiac services in the Scarborough and North East Yorkshire NHS Trust area. [215279]
Ann Keen: We have asked the Independent Reconfiguration Panel (IRP) for advice on the proposed changes to maternity services in Scarborough and acute services and coronary care at Bridlington Hospital. We expect to receive advice from the panel over the proposals in relation to Scarborough shortly, and in relation to Bridlington by the end of July.
We will publish the decisions and the advice we receive from the IRP as soon as we have fully considered the issues. We aim to do this within a month of receiving the IRP’s advice.
Health: EU Programme of Community Action
Mr. Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Health which programmes are being funded in the UK under the EU Programme of Community Action in the field of health. [214158]
Dawn Primarolo: The European Union programme of community action in the field of health funds projects which aim to promote health, to improve citizen's health security and to generate and disseminate health information and knowledge. The programme is funded by the EU and administered by the Public Health Executive Agency (PHEA) of the European Commission. Details of the United Kingdom's involvement in the projects funded under the programme can be found at the following PHEA website at:
Health: Summertime
Mr. Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what research his Department has (a) commissioned and (b) evaluated on the effects on public health of altering the operation of Greenwich Mean Time and British Summer Time. [214086]
HIV Infection
Dr. Iddon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much was spent on surveillance and epidemiology of (a) HIV, (b) hepatitis B and (c) hepatitis C in each year since 1997. [213654]
Dawn Primarolo: The information requested is not available in the format requested. Such information as is available is shown in the following table.
| Expenditure on surveillance and epidemiology of HIV, hepatitis B and hepatitis C in 2007 | |
| £ million | |
| Notes: 1. The HPA, which came into existence in April 2003, is responsible for national surveillance of infectious diseases. Data before 2003 from predecessor organisations are not available. 2. The information requested is not collected routinely by the HPA in the format requested. The HPA has estimated the national costs of HIV, hepatitis B and hepatitis C surveillance and epidemiology for 2007 using information collected specially for a current evaluation of its surveillance systems. Similar information has not been collected for 2003-06. Source: Health Protection Agency (HPA) | |
HIV Infection: Sandwell
Mr. Spellar: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 12 June 2008, Official Report, columns 523-24W, on HIV infection, how many diagnoses (a) as HIV positive and (b) of AIDS there have been in Sandwell in the last (i) 30 years and (ii) 12 months. [214146]
Dawn Primarolo: The available information, which is for Sandwell primary care trust, is shown in the following table.
| HIV and AIDS diagnoses in Sandwell primary care trust | ||
| First diagnosis | Last 30 years | 2007 |
| Notes: 1. Surveillance for AIDS started in 1982, for HIV in 1984. 2. Figures may include some records of the same individuals, which are unmatched because of difference in the information supplied. 3. Figures for recent years may rise as further reports are received. 4. Data will include individuals who have been infected with HIV outside the United Kingdom, but who have been subsequently diagnosed in the UK. 5. Figures represent persons who were first diagnosed with HIV in the UK within Sandwell, some of these persons may reside outside Sandwell. 6. Data are to the end of December 2007. Source: Health Protection Agency. | ||
Hospitals: Admissions
Mr. Liddell-Grainger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate he has made of the average cost to the public purse of a patient spending a day in hospital in each of the last five years. [211371]
Mr. Bradshaw: The specific information requested cannot be provided, as the average cost of a patient spending a day in hospital is not collected centrally.
However, information is available on the average cost of a wide range of services provided in hospitals. This information is collected each year through the NHS Reference Costs 2006-07 collection exercise. Copies of the national schedule of NHS Reference Costs for 2006-07 are available in the Library, and is also available on the Department's website at:
Liver Diseases
Sandra Gidley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of screening for liver disease; and if he will make a statement. [214371]
Ann Keen: We are concerned about the increasing incidence of and mortality from liver disease. We are already taking action on a number of fronts to combat its primary causes—alcohol misuse, viral hepatitis and obesity.
We recognise that there is strong support for developing a national plan for liver disease. We are investigating the possibility of developing a programme of work, which would cover health promotion and early detection, as well as the full range of health services.
A full assessment for screening for liver disease would need to be undertaken by the National Screening Committee.
NHS: Drugs
Anne Milton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the reasons for the time taken between the authorisation of orphan and ultra orphan drugs and the availability of these drugs to patients; and if he will make a statement. [212244]
Dawn Primarolo: The Department has made no specific assessment of the time difference between the market authorisation of orphan and ultra orphan drugs and the availability of these drugs to patients.
In December 2006, the Government re-issued best practice guidance to the local national health service, which states that funding for treatments should not be withheld simply because guidance from the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) is unavailable but that decisions should be made on the basis of the available evidence. The guidance also suggests alternative sources of information for NHS organisations to consult in the absence of NICE guidance.
Occupational Therapy
Sandra Gidley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate he has made of the number of occupational therapists who qualified in 2007 and who have not been employed by the NHS. [214341]
Ann Keen: On 26 June 2008 there were 64 occupational therapy graduates registered in the newly qualified healthcare professionals pools as looking for their first post in the national health service. Some staff within the pool may have temporary or short-term employment within the NHS. The number who graduated in 2007 is not identified separately.
Ophthalmology
Mr. Gray: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many requests for exceptional funding (a) in total and (b) for ophthalmological procedures have been granted by the Wiltshire Primary Care Trust Exceptions Committee in each of the last three years. [214318]
Ann Keen: The information requested is not collected centrally. It is for primary care trusts (PCTs) to commission services on behalf of their population and to make decisions locally on which treatments to fund, taking into account all available evidence. The hon. Member may therefore wish to raise this with the chief executive of Wiltshire PCT.
Pharmacy
Mr. Dunne: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many pharmacies have (a) opened and (b) closed in each constituency in each year since 1997-98. [213630]
Dawn Primarolo: Information on the number of pharmacies at constituency level that open and close is not collected centrally by the Department. The Information Centre for health and social care has information by individual English primary care trust (PCT), since March 2004.
Tables have been placed in the Library, which provide the numbers of pharmacies that have opened and closed in the three most recently available financial years and take account of the reorganisation of PCTs in October 2006.
Speech Therapy
Sandra Gidley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate he has made of the number of speech and language therapists who qualified in 2007 and have not been employed by the NHS. [214343]
Ann Keen: On 26 June 2008 there were 21 speech and language therapy graduates registered in the newly qualified healthcare professionals pools as looking for their first post in the national health service. Some staff within the pool may have temporary or short-term employment within the NHS. The number who graduated in 2007 is not identified separately.
Stem Cells: Research
Jim Dobbin: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much public funding was spent on (a) human embryonic stem cell research and (b) adult stem cell research in each financial year since 1999. [214575]
Dawn Primarolo: I refer my hon. Friend to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Boston and Skegness (Mark Simmonds) on 14 May 2008, Official Report, column 1650W, which contains the most recent data available to the Department on stem cell research funding.
Transsexuality: Surgery
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many sex change operations were performed in London in each of the last five years. [214179]
Dawn Primarolo: The information requested can be found in the following table.
The table shows the total number of finished consultant episodes (FCEs) when an operative procedure for sexual transformation has been performed by hospital providers in London for the years 2002-03 to 2006-07. The information provided is held at trust level.
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