| Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
1 Sep 2008 : Column 1753W—continued
NHS: Apprentices
Mr. Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many apprenticeships there are in the NHS; what the baseline year is for measuring adherence to the commitment contained in High Quality Care for All, Cm 7432, to double apprenticeships over the next four years; how much is being spent on apprenticeships in 2008-09; whether future spending will be ring-fenced; whether he expects that the doubling of expenditure on apprenticeships will lead to a doubling in the number of apprenticeships; and if he will make a statement. [221051]
Ann Keen: Information on the number of apprenticeships in the NHS is not available centrally. We are currently working with key partners to design apprenticeship policy that meets the needs of NHS staff, employers and above all, our patients. Decisions on ring-fencing and aspirations on numbers of apprentices will be considered as part of ongoing work.
NHS: Buildings
John Battle: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what funds his Department has received from the sale of former NHS buildings in (a) England and (b) Leeds in the last 10 years; and if he will make a statement. [220706]
Mr. Bradshaw: In the last 10 years, the total receipts from the sale of former national health service land and buildings by the Department were £2,047 million. Records indicate that, of that sum, £66 million was received from the sale of surplus NHS property in Leeds. These figures do not include sales made by NHS bodies themselves.
The receipts from the Department’s sale of land and buildings are centrally reinvested as a part of the capital funding provided to the NHS.
Mr. Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what percentage of the NHS estate in England was not (a) fire safety and (b) health and safety compliant in each of the last five years; what the estimated cost of the works required to achieve such compliance was at year-end in each case; what the cost of the total general repair backlog on the NHS estate in England was in March (i) 2005 and (ii) 2006; and what the outstanding cost of related repairs is estimated to be as of the end of 2008-09; [221530]
(2) what the repair backlog was of the NHS estate, broken down by (a) high, (b) significant, (c) moderate and (d) low risk in each of the last five financial years; and what the overall risk adjusted backlog was; [221620]
(3) what estimate he has made of the cost of outstanding maintenance in the NHS in each year from 1997-98 to 2007-08 (a) in total and (b) broken down by NHS organisation; [221621]
(4) what estimate he has made of the cost of reaching (a) estate code condition B, (b) fire safety standards and (c) health and safety standards for all mental health trusts in England, broken down by trust; [221622]
(5) what targets he has set in relation to reducing disrepair on the NHS estate. [221625]
Mr. Bradshaw: Recent record levels of capital investment in the national health service estate have resulted in a quarter of the estate occupied by NHS trusts being replaced since 1997 and the proportion of the estate that predates the establishment of the NHS itself has fallen from 50 per cent. in 1997-98 to 20 per cent. in 2006-07.
NHS organisations are responsible for the provision and maintenance of facilities to support the delivery of high quality clinical services. Therefore the NHS will locally prioritise investment to reduce backlog maintenance based on risk assessment, reconfiguration planning and available resources. The majority of backlog maintenance relates to low priority work, which trusts will undertake through maintenance programmes. Where higher risks are present, work will be undertaken as a priority. While levels of backlog maintenance vary across the NHS, it is estimated that around 75 per cent. of the total costs to eradicate backlog maintenance is concentrated in 20 per cent. of organisations.
The backlog maintenance categorised according to its risk level is provided in the following table.
The total backlog maintenance for England since 1997-98 is provided in the following table.
| Total backlog maintenance (£ million) | |
The information for NHS organisations has been placed in the Library. Data relating to 2007-08 are currently being collected.
Information on the percentage of the total patient occupied floor area in the NHS estate in England that is not fire or health and safety compliant has not been collected centrally since 2003-04. At that time the figures were 7.1 per cent. and 8.8 per cent. respectively. The estimated cost of achieving compliance for physical condition, fire safety and health and safety, which in total represent the investment needed to reach Estatecode condition B, for 2003-04, the last available period, have been placed in the Library. This includes NHS mental health trusts. NHS organisations, including foundation trusts, remain responsible for compliance with fire and health and safety laws and regulations.
The data provided has not been amended centrally and the accuracy and completeness of this data is the responsibility of the provider organisation.
Mr. Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Health which NHS trusts have been found to have asbestos in buildings within their responsibility. [221627]
Mr. Bradshaw: This information is not collected centrally. Responsibility for the identification, safe handling and disposal of asbestos found in any national health service property is a matter for local management. The NHS, along with all other industries has been alert to the risks associated with asbestos for many years, and managers are aware of their responsibilities under the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 and the Control of Asbestos at Work Regulations 2002.
NHS: Drugs
Mr. Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what recent estimate he has made of the proportion of NHS trusts which make use of the CPORT tool to plan for the safe introduction of new drugs. [220961]
Ann Keen: Currently around 63 trusts have access to C-PORT and are being trained to use the tool to assess the impact of drugs. Roll out continues across 20 Cancer Networks who are at various stages in learning how to use the tool.
Mr. Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the extent to which patients who have been denied funding for National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE)-approved drugs by their primary care trust (PCT) are aware of the obligations on PCTs to fund NICE-approved drugs; what assessment he has made of the extent to which patients will become more aware of these obligations as a result of the inclusion of this right in the NHS constitution; and what proportion of patients who have been denied funding for NICE-approved drugs he estimates will have access to NICE-approved drugs following the changes proposed in High Quality Care for All, Cm 7432. [221137]
Dawn Primarolo: Our overall assessment is that compliance with technology appraisal guidance published by the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) is high and that patients are not routinely denied treatments that have been recommended by NICE.
Research with patients and the public suggests that, while the perceived “postcode lottery” for access to drugs is a major concern, many people are unaware of the process for funding drugs and treatments and are not aware that primary care trusts already have a statutory responsibility to fund drugs and treatments that are recommended in NICE's technology appraisal guidance. The Government believe that the NHS Constitution can play an important part in addressing these issues.
The draft NHS Constitution was published on 30 June 2008 (copies have already been placed in the Library) and the Government's proposals are open for public consultation until 17 October 2008. The Government will consider these issues following the consultation.
NHS: Finance
Mr. Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) how much his Department has allocated to central capital budgets in (a) 2009-10 and (b) 2010-11; [219380]
(2) with reference to page 148 of his Department’s Annual Report 2008, if he will provide a similar breakdown of the NHS capital settlement for (a) 2009-10 and (b) 2010-11; [219381]
(3) pursuant to the Answer of 24 June 2008, Official Report, columns 197-8W, on departmental public expenditure, how much his Department spent on each of its programme capital budgets for 2007-08; and what programme capital budgets have been planned for (a) 2009-10 and (b) 2010-11. [219384]
Mr. Bradshaw: The amounts allocated against each of the Department’s 2007-08 programme capital budgets are shown in the table.
Other than the amounts (£480 million in 2009-10 and £565 million in 2010-11) announced in “The Operating Framework. For the NHS in England 2008-09” (copies of this publication have already been placed in the Library) for the local capital investment priorities of primary care trusts, capital budgets for 2009-10 and 2010-11 have not yet been set. The Department cannot, therefore, for those years, issue information on central capital budgets, or programme capital budgets, or issue a breakdown in the format of page 148 of Departmental Report 2008.
| Next Section | Index | Home Page |