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10 Sep 2008 : Column 1894W—continued


Departmental Telephone Services

Julia Goldsworthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what (a) 0800, (b) 0845 and (c) 0870 telephone numbers for the public are in use by (i) his Department and (ii) agencies which report to his Department. [200127]

Mr. Bradshaw: The Department runs or supports the following lines, using the (a) 0800, (b) 0845 telephone numbers for the public. This corrects the information given in written answers to the hon. Member for Falmouth and Camborne (Julia Goldsworthy) on 17 December 2007, Official Report, column 1206W, and to the hon. Member for Wolverhampton, South-West (Rob Marris) on 28 January 2008, Official Report, columns 109-10W.


10 Sep 2008 : Column 1895W

Telephone number

Asian Tobacco Helpline

08001690881

Asian Tobacco Helpline

08001690882

Asian Tobacco Helpline

08001690883

Asian Tobacco Helpline

08001690884

Asian Tobacco Helpline

08001690885

Asian Tobacco Helpline

08001690886

British Heart Foundation (Tobacco)

08001691900

Drinkline

08009178282

Drinkline

08006781110

Drinkline

08007076336

Drinkline

08008766622

Drinkline

08008766776

Drinkline

08008766778

FRANK

0800776600

FRANK Minicom

08009178765

Hepatitis C Line

08000850859

Hepatitis C Line

0800451451

DDSHL Helpline 2007

08000121636

DDSHL Helpline 2007

08000121737

Pregnancy Smoking Helpline

08001699169

Sexual Health Line

0800567123

Sexual Health Line Minicom

0800521361

Sexwise

0800282930

Smoking Helpline

08001690169

Smoking Helpline

08009176699

Smoking Helpline

08000327252

Smoking Helpline

08001691236

Smoking Helpline

0800884411

Smoking Helpline

08001695262

Smoking Helpline

08005975976

Smoking Helpline

08001691697

Smoking Helpline

08000665623

Smoking Helpline

08000665552

Smoking Helpline Minicom

08001690171

Smoking Helpline

08001690256

Smoking Helpline

08005975976

Smoking Helpline

08000665552

Smoking Helpline

08000665598

Smoking Helpline

08001691236

Smoking Helpline

08000327252

Smoking Helpline

08000854413

Smoking Helpline

08000854489

Smoking Helpline

08000854564

Smoking Helpline

08000121551

Smoking Helpline

08000121612

Smoking Helpline

08000855076

Smoking Helpline

08000854332

Smoking Helpline

08000855052

EHIC Order Line

08456050707

EHIC enquiry line

08456062030

Healthy Start

08456076823

Healthy Start Minicom

08456017698

Social Work and Care Careers Recruitment Line

08456046404

Social Work and Care Careers Recruitment Minicom

08456016121


The Department ran the following non-revenue generating lines, using (c) 0870 numbers. While they were mainly for the use of national health service and social services professionals, there was some use by the public. Since May 2008, these services have been available via 0300 numbers but the 0870 numbers need to be maintained until the end of March 2009 to allow for the transition.

Telephone number

DH Publication Orderline

08701 555 455

DH Publication Orderline minicom

08700 102 870


10 Sep 2008 : Column 1896W

(a) 0800, (b) 0845 and (c) 0870 telephone numbers for the public administered by (ii) agencies which report to the Department.

The Department’s Executive agencies, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency and the NHS Purchasing and Supply Agency have no 0800, 0845 or 0870 numbers for use by the public.

The Department has 25 arms length bodies and a number of national programmes e.g. NHS Employers. Information about telephone services for these bodies is not held centrally and cannot be provided except at disproportionate cost.

Departmental Visits Abroad

Anne Main: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the cost was of overseas visits made by members of staff in his Department in each of the last three years. [221522]

Mr. Bradshaw: The total cost of overseas visits made by members of staff of the Department in the last three years have been:

£

2006

1,044,298.67

2007

722,803.56

2008

699,189.50.


Disabled

Mr. Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many and what proportion of staff in (a) his Department and (b) the executive agencies for which he is responsible are disabled; and what the average salary in his (i) Department and (ii) executive agencies is of (A) full-time disabled staff, (B) full-time non-disabled staff, (C) part-time disabled staff and (D) part-time non-disabled staff. [220186]

Mr. Bradshaw: The numbers and proportions of staff in the Department and its agencies who are disabled are presented in the following table:

Number Proportion (percentage)

Department of Health

110

5.9

Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency

10

1.6

NHS Purchasing and Supply Agency (PASA)

<1.3


The figures in the table are taken from information published by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) as at 30 September 2007. They exclude people who have not declared their disability status. A number is not quoted for PASA because it was less than five; the proportion is therefore based on a maximum number of four.

The median salaries of full-time disabled staff, full-time non-disabled staff, part-time disabled staff and part-time non-disabled staff are presented in the following table:


10 Sep 2008 : Column 1897W

10 Sep 2008 : Column 1898W
£

Full-time disabled Full-time non-disabled Part-time disabled Part-time non-disabled

Department of Health

35,360

39,240

30,670

37,400

Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency

41,280

33,340

38,230

NHS Purchasing and Supply Agency

34,840

32,550


These figures are also taken from ONS information as at 30 September 2007. They exclude people who have not declared their disability status. Salaries are not quoted where there were less than five people in the category.

The civil service is committed to reflecting the society it serves, at all levels, including disabled people. The recently published “Promoting Equality, Valuing Diversity—A Strategy for the Civil Service” builds on what has already been achieved and sets out what the civil service wants to achieve in equality and diversity in employment over the next three to five years. It also provides a framework against which Departments and agencies will take actions.

Reward arrangements below the senior civil service (SCS) are delegated to individual Departments and agencies. For the SCS, Departments and agencies are responsible for their own reward arrangements within a framework set by Cabinet Office. Departments and agencies are responsible for equality proofing their own reward systems.

Due to the self-reporting nature of disability and the relatively large proportion of civil servants whose disability status is unknown or undeclared, care should be exercised when drawing conclusions based on these statistics.

Extreme care should also be exercised when making comparisons of salaries between part-time and full-time disabled and non-disabled staff. For example, a simple comparison of median salary by disability status and working pattern does not take account of the different responsibility levels of the individuals concerned. Therefore, any meaningful comparison should take account of these compositional differences.

Drugs: Misuse

Mr. Grieve: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) how many people were discharged from treatment for drug misuse in England categorised as (a) treatment completed drug free, (b) treatment completed not drug free, (c) dropped out, (d) referred to other treatment, (e) individual entered prison, (f) individual died and (g) reason not known in each year from 2003-04 to 2007-08; [223388]

(2) how many individuals discharged from treatment for drug misuse in England on the grounds that they completed treatment drug free in (a) 2003-04, (b) 2004-05, (c) 2005-06, (d) 2006-07 and (e) 2007-08 subsequently re-entered treatment for drug misuse. [223389]

Mr. Bradshaw: The following table shows the number of individuals discharged from structured treatment for drug misuse, by discharge reason, for the period 2004-05 to 2006-07.

2004-05 2005-06 2006-07
Discharge reason( 1) Percentage Number Percentage Number Percentage Number

Treatment completed drug free

6.5

3,632

7.2

4,559

8.8

5,829

Treatment completed

13.8

7,656

16.8

10,662

19.7

13,022

Treatment completed—referred

8.1

4,516

10

6,348

13.1

8,662

Total successful discharges

28.4

15,804

33.9

21,569

41.6

27,513

Dropped out/left

43.1

23,955

41.1

26,136

35.8

23,646

Prison

4.4

2,441

5.5

3,486

6.2

4,069

Treatment declined by client

0.3

190

1.2

792

Treatment withdrawn/breach of contract

5.3

2,947

4.4

2,766

3.6

2,357

Moved away

2.6

1,448

2.4

1,521

2.7

1,772

Died

1.1

602

0.8

514

1.0

633

Inappropriate referral

1.2

759

1

646

No appropriate treatment available

1.3

695

6.1

3,863

4.3

2,816

Other

7.9

4,383

3.7

2,376

2.4

1,556

Not known

3

1,661

0.1

57

0.4

266

Not recorded (data missing)

2.9

1,624

0.5

297

0.1

57

Total discharged

55,560

63,534

66,123

(1) Discharge reasons are taken from the NDTMS statistical release 1 April 2006 to 31 March 2007. Data on individuals in structured drug and alcohol treatment are collected by the National Treatment Agency for Substance Misuse (NTA) via the National Drug Treatment Monitoring System (NDTMS), using the following definitions:
‘Treatment completed drug free’ refers to an individual, who the treatment provider believes has completed their treatment no longer dependent on their drug of misuse and is not using any other illegal drugs.
‘Treatment completed’ refers to an individual, who the treatment provider believes has completed their treatment no longer dependent on their drug of misuse, but who may be using drugs in a non-dependent way.
‘Treatment completed—referred’ refers to an individual who, on completion of a Tier 3 or 4 service, is transferred to a Tier 2 service or support services such as housing support or employment support.

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