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14 July 2008 : Column 196W—continued
Health Centres
Mr. Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 19 May 2008, Official Report, column 119W, on health centres, on what dates officials in his Department attended programme-based meetings within strategic health authorities’ remit; and if he will place in the Library copies of the (a) agenda and (b) minutes of such meetings. [209187]
Mr. Bradshaw: Departmental officials have not attended any such meetings.
Polyclinics: Greater London
Harry Cohen: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the estimated cost is of the polyclinics which are to be set up in London. [215676]
Mr. Bradshaw: The organisation of health services is a matter for the national health service at local level. My hon. Friend may therefore wish to direct his question to the relevant primary care trusts or London strategic health authority.
Health Centres: Rural Areas
Mr. Paice: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment his Department has made of the effect that GP-led health centres will have on levels of access to primary healthcare in rural areas. [215029]
Mr. Bradshaw: The new general practitioner (GP)-led health centres will provide the public with access to primary care services from 8 am to 8 pm seven days a week. Patients can either book an appointment or use the centres on a walk-in basis, and can do so while remaining registered with their existing GP practice.
Analysis of NHS Choices data of practices currently delivering extended opening hours, shows that where a practice's closest neighbour is not currently open on evenings or weekends, there is only a one in five chance of a practice delivering extended opening. However, where the immediately neighbouring practice is delivering extended opening to their patients, a practice is twice as likely to also provide extended opening. Therefore, by securing a new GP-led health centre and new GP practices in poorly served areas, other patients will also directly benefit from extended opening and better access for patients from their own practice.
Mr. Paice: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what guidance his Department has issued to primary care trusts on access criteria for GP-led health centres in rural areas. [215030]
Mr. Bradshaw: PCTs have been asked to follow a small number of core criteria for the general practitioner (GP)-led health centres, including that the centres should be situated in an easily accessible location, that they can be used by any member of the public, whether registered with the health centres or not by either a bookable appointment or on a walk-in basis, and that they are open from 8 am-8 pm, 365 days a year. It is, ultimately, for PCTs to identify the best location for these new services following consultation with patients, GPs and others to reflect local needs and preferences.
Health Services: Greater London
Ms Buck: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many patients were waiting for treatment in each London primary care trust in (a) 2003 and (b) 2007. [216478]
Mr. Bradshaw: The information requested is contained in the following table.
Health Services: North East
Jim Cousins: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what quality incentive payments have been made in respect of each practice in the (a) Newcastle upon Tyne Primary Care Trust, (b) North Tyneside Primary Care Trust and (c) Northumberland Primary Care Trust areas. [216742]
Mr. Bradshaw: The information is not collected centrally.
Health Services: Public Participation
Mr. Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will place in the Library a copy of (a) each response to the consultation on the Health Care and Associated Professions (Miscellaneous Amendments) No. 2 Order 2008 and (b) the Government's collated response to the consultation. [214867]
Mr. Bradshaw:
The report on the consultation will be laid in Parliament at the same time as the Health Care
and Associated Professions (Miscellaneous Amendments) No. 2 Order 2008. The report will include information on individual responses, including how copies can be obtained.
Health Services: Staffordshire
Mr. Jenkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many of the Core Standards for Better Health were met by hospitals in the South Staffordshire NHS Primary Care Trust area in the most recent period for which information is available; and which of the standards the hospitals did not meet in that period. [215845]
Mr. Bradshaw: Each national health service trust and NHS foundation trust is required to publish a self-declaration of compliance against the twenty-four core standards set out in the Department of Health’s “Standards for Better Health”. This document, as amended on 3 April 2006, has been placed in the Library and is also available on the Department’s website at:
These declarations are on each trust’s website and the Healthcare Commission published the national position on 16 June 2008.
Health Services: Wirral
Stephen Hesford: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps are being taken to reduce health inequalities between the two Wirral primary care trust populations. [216493]
Dawn Primarolo: This information is not held centrally.
‘ The Department has put in place a number of measures to tackle health inequalities. On 9 June 2008, my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State launched the document Health Inequalities: Progress and Next Steps (copies of which have already been placed in the Library). The document highlights successes in reducing inequalities and identifies how effort will be increased to meet the health inequalities 2010 National Public Service Agreement target for life expectancy and infant mortality. The document also sets the direction of travel for tackling health inequalities. It commits the Government to work together to develop the structures, systems and actions to sustain long-term delivery on health inequalities.
The document also publicised an improved health inequalities intervention tool, jointly owned by the Department and the Association of Public Health Observatories. The tool is an interactive website to help local health services and councils improve life expectancy in local areas.
The Department has also established national support teams for health inequalities and for tobacco control to disseminate best practice across all spearhead areas, including the Wirral area, and areas with high infant mortality rates, and to provide intensive support for those areas that need it.
HIV Infection: Children
Mark Pritchard: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many children in England are receiving NHS treatment for HIV/AIDS. [215797]
Dawn Primarolo: The number of children (aged under 18 years) who were resident in England and who received HIV-related treatment or care in England in 2006 are shown in the following table.
| Number of children (aged under 18 years) who were resident in England and who received HIV-related treatment or care in England in 2006( 1) | ||
| Age | HIV-infected | Indeterminate HIV status or subsequently shown not to be infected with HIV |
| (1) Numbers exclude 13 children cared for/treated in England whose country of residence was not known. (2) In total 659 (66 per cent.) of these infants had been shown to be uninfected by the time that data were collected. Almost all of the remaining 343 infants would be expected to be shown to be uninfected by 18 months after being born. Sources: 1. Health Protection Agency annual survey of HIV-infected persons accessing care 2. Institute of Child Health National Study of HIV in Pregnancy and Childhood | ||
Human Papilloma Virus: Vaccination
Jenny Willott: To ask the Secretary of State for Health which drugs, manufactured by which companies, his Department is considering for use in the programme to vaccinate girls against cervical cancer. [216563]
Dawn Primarolo: Cervarix will be the vaccine used for the human papilloma virus vaccination programme and is manufactured by GlaxoSmithKline.
Mrs. May: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what discussions he had with his counterparts in other EU member states on the effectiveness of a human papilloma virus (HPV) vaccination programme based on a quadrivalent vaccine before deciding which vaccine to procure for the Government's HPV vaccination programme. [218185]
Dawn Primarolo: My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State has had no discussions with his counterparts in other European Union member states on the effectiveness of a human papilloma virus vaccination programme based on a quadrivalent vaccine.
Mrs. May: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what account was taken of the effect of potential vaccines on the prevention of vulval and vaginal cancers in the decision to procure a two-type vaccine for the human papilloma virus (HPV) vaccination programme; what steps the Government plan to take to prevent vulval and vaginal cancers; and what contribution the HPV vaccination programme is intended to make to the Government's overall programme on sexual health. [218186]
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