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7 July 2008 : Column 1293W—continued
NHS: Transport
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health to what extent his Department liaises with local authorities on the provision of bus routes serving NHS facilities. [214207]
Mr. Bradshaw: National health service trusts and primary care trusts are responsible for liaising with local authorities on the provision of public transport, including bus routes, serving NHS facilities.
The Department’s guidance document, “Health Technical Memorandum 07-03 Transport management and car-parking” identifies best practice in the development of local travel plans designed to influence transport to an individual site. The guidance also provides access to software developed by the Department of Transport that enables trusts to assess their travel plans and engage directly with local authorities to develop realistic, viable and acceptable arrangements. Copies of this publication are available in the Library.
Travel plans are likely to be required when trusts are expanding existing facilities or developing new facilities. In these cases, plans would be agreed with the local authority as part of the normal town planning approval process.
Nurses: Foreigners
Mr. Jenkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate he has made of the proportion of newly-registered nurses who came from non-EU countries in the latest period for which figures are available. [215760]
Ann Keen: The Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) register shows that between 1 April 2006 to 31 March 2007 there were 4,830 newly-registered nurses and midwives who came from non-European Union countries, out of a total of 27,702. This represents 17.4 per cent. of the total of newly-registered nurses and midwives in the year to 31 March 2007.
| Country/area | Initial entrants |
| Source: NMC Register | |
Nutrition
Mr. Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Health in what ways the Commission for Social Care Inspection assesses the extent to which care providers are offering effective nutritional care; what information the Commission for Social Care Inspection collects as part of its assessments of the extent to which care providers are offering effective nutritional care; and if he will place in the Library a copy of assessments made by the Commission for Social Care Inspection of the quality of nutritional care offered by care providers. [212199]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: Under the Care Homes Regulations 2001 and National Minimum Standards (NMS), homes are required to provide, in adequate quantities, suitable, wholesome and nutritious food, which is varied, appealing and properly prepared and available at such times as may reasonably be required by service users.
Care homes are required to keep records, for inspection by the Commission for Social Care Inspection (CSCI), of the food provided for service users in sufficient detail to enable any person inspecting the record to determine whether the diet provided is satisfactory—nutritionally and otherwise—and including any special diets prepared for individual service users.
We have been informed by CSCI that, as part of the inspection of care providers, it surveys people using services, their relatives and visiting professionals. The survey form for care homes includes a section where respondents can record their comments on the food provided.
When inspecting a service, CSCI will assess and score it against key NMS. These include NMS 8—Healthcare, which requires that providers carry out nutritional screening of service users on admission and then on a periodic basis, and NMS 15—Meals and Mealtimes, which requires a service to provide balanced, healthy and appetising meals for service users.
In addition to scoring services against the NMS, CSCI would also require evidence of the quality of outcomes for people using the service. It can place statutory requirements on any service if it believes the wellbeing of people who use it may be at risk. The following table shows the percentages of services meeting or exceeding NMS 8 and 15 since 2002-03.
| Care homes for younger adults | ||
| Percentage | ||
| NMS 8—Healthcare | NMS 15—Meals and mealtimes | |
| Care homes for older people | ||
| Percentage | ||
| NMS 8—Healthcare | NMS 15—Meals and mealtimes | |
CSCI issues a range of guidance to its inspectors in the form of ‘Clinical Triggers’—one of which is entitled “The management of nutritional care for older people in care homes”—which provide information on best practice and the action which should be taken if this is not being followed. The ‘Clinical Triggers’ are available on the CSCI professionals’ website at
Copies of “The management of nutritional care for older people in care homes” have been placed in the Library.
CSCI requires all providers to confirm that they carry out nutritional screening for people at risk of malnutrition in its annual quality assurance assessment. Where evidence raises concern about nutrition, CSCI will ensure that this is fully explored during the next inspection of the service. It will track, through the AQAA, the assessment of individual person-centred plans to establish that where required, nutritional screening has taken place.
Copies of all inspection reports for individual services are available on the CSCI website at:
CSCI has not carried out additional separate assessments of the quality of nutritional care.
Organs: Donors
Mr. Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many brain-stem dead organ donors the NHS has capacity to maintain on life support at any one time; and for how long such patients may be maintained. [216220]
Ann Keen: Organ donors confirmed dead by brain stem testing will have received treatment prior to their death in critical care facilities. Usually the retrieval of donated organs takes place within 12 hours of death. A Programme Delivery Board has been established chaired by Professor Sir Bruce Keogh, the NHS Medical Director, to oversee delivery of the recommendations. This will include the need to work with commissioners and health providers to consider capacity and business needs in light of the recommendations and projected increase in organ donation.
Paroxysmal Nocturnal Hemoglobinuria
Anne Milton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the current treatment for paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria is; and how services for PNH are currently commissioned and managed. [216627]
Dawn Primarolo: Standard treatment for paroxysmal nocturnal haemoglobinuria includes anti-coagulation, blood and platelet transfusions and in severe cases bone marrow transplant. Services are currently commissioned by primary care trusts from two specialist centres, based in Leeds and London.
An application to commission the service on a national basis has been submitted by the two national centres and will be considered by the National Specialised Commissioning Group later this month. The application includes proposals to fund a newly licensed drug, which may be of benefit to some patients.
Perinatal Mortality
Mr. Holloway: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many (a) births, (b) stillbirths and (c) neonatal deaths there were in NHS operated units of each NHS hospital trust area in (i) 2006 and (ii) 2007. [215728]
Ann Keen:
The Department is unable to provide the information requested. While the Office for National Statistics does collect information on births, stillbirths
and neonatal deaths, it is not able to break those figures down by national health service hospital trust areas, or to determine which births took place in an NHS operated unit.
Pressure Sores
Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what measures (a) the Healthcare Commission, (b) the Commission for Social Care Inspection and (c) the National Patient Safety Authority use to monitor the incidence of pressure ulcers in care settings within its responsibility. [214462]
Ann Keen: The Healthcare Commission, the Commission for Social Care Inspection, and the National Patient Safety Authority are independent organisations free to use whatever measures they feel appropriate to monitor the incidence of pressure ulcers in their responsible care settings.
Prostate Cancer: Medical Treatments
Mr. Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans he has to improve information about treatment services to help men with metastatic hormone refractory prostate cancer. [216753]
Ann Keen: The Cancer Reform Strategy sets out a series of actions to improve the care and experience of all cancer patients, including those with metastatic hormone refractory prostate cancer. Copies of this publication have already been placed in the Library.
Tumour specific national pathways are due to be launched on 21 July 2008, and it will be for cancer networks to adopt and implement these pathways. This will make nationally agreed information available to frontline cancer health professionals to offer to patients at key points in their cancer journey.
We are also introducing information prescriptions, personalised prescriptions which will draw on local as well as national knowledge and information. They will guide people to relevant websites, telephone numbers and support groups for their condition, as well as providing information directly to patients at appropriate times during their care pathway.
To support the introduction of information prescriptions, the National Cancer Action Team is working in partnership with cancer charities to develop a system to enable health professionals to generate tailored information prescriptions at any point in the cancer pathway. The system will draw on high quality national content, while making sure local details can be added. The project is being developed for roll out in 2009.
Public Health
Mr. Jenkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate the Government has made of the number of deaths from preventable illnesses in each of the last two years. [215853]
Mr. Watson: I have been asked to reply.
The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated 7 July 2008:
As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your recent question asking what estimate the Government has made of the number of deaths from preventable illnesses in each of the last two years. (215853)
There is currently no official definition of deaths from preventable illnesses. However, an analysis published by ONS in May 2007(1) reported that 35 per cent of male deaths and 28 per cent of female deaths under the age of 75 years occurring in 2005 were considered preventable. ‘Preventable’ in this context means that the disease or event could potentially have been avoided by public health measures or change in individual behaviour.
(1) Weller L, Baker A, Griffiths C, Rooney C (2007) Trends in avoidable mortality in England and Wales, 1993-2005. “Health Statistics Quarterly” 34: 6-25
Sheltered Housing: Health Services
Dr. Ladyman: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what timetable he has set for the formulation of a protocol for the registration of core services in sheltered housing; and if he will make a statement. [215427]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: There is no timetable for the formation of a protocol for the registration of services in sheltered housing. Providers of domiciliary care services in sheltered housing settings are already required by the Care Standards Act 2000 to register with the Commission for Social Care Inspection.
Social Services
Mr. Allen: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how the figure of £6 billion funding gap in social care in 2027 contained in his Department's publication A Case for Change was calculated. [215507]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: The £6 billion funding gap figure is the difference between two estimates, both of which are based on a series of assumptions and are indicative only:
the future cost of social care services:
This looks at projected growth in the cost of social care, taking into account social and demographic pressures, anticipated rises in the unit costs of providing care, and assuming that this rising level of need is met by supply. These projections were carried out by Personal Social Services Research Unit (PSSRU)(1,2.)
expenditure on social care:
This uses potential economic growth of 2 per cent. real as an estimate for potential growth in government expenditure on social care. This figure is being used for analytical purposes only and should not be considered indicative of future government spending decisions.
Source:
1. Future demand for social care, 2005 to 2041: projections of demand for social care for older people in England, PSSRU DP 2514, available at www.psru.ac.uk
2. Future demand for social care, 2005 to 2041: projections of demand for social care and disability benefits for younger adults in England, PSSRU DP 2512, available at www.pssru.ac.uk
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