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17 Sep 2008 : Column 2210W—continued
Medical Treatments: Lasers
Mr. Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether the deregulation of class 3B and 4 lasers and intense-pulsed light equipment will require (a) primary and (b) secondary legislation. [224243]
Mr. Bradshaw: The regulation or deregulation of class 3B and 4 lasers and intense pulsed light equipment could be achieved using secondary legislation.
NHS Direct
Jeremy Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the average cost to his Department is of a telephone call to the NHS Direct line, including the cost of staffing and other overheads. [223422]
Mr. Bradshaw: The average cost of a telephone call to NHS Direct was £15.35 in 2007-08.
The figure is based on an average cost of all calls to NHS Direct, including calls to the 0845 4647 number, the Appointments Line and other services.
NHS: Finance
Mr. Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what is the maximum debt that can be taken on by each (a) NHS trust and (b) NHS foundation trusts; and what each such trust's assets were at the latest date for which figures are available. [224241]
Mr. Bradshaw: When it is necessary for a national health service trust to borrow for capital investment or working capital, the level of borrowing is primarily determined by its ability to service the debt. To inform its decision the Department calculates prudential borrowing limits for each NHS trust using a similar basis to that applied by Monitor to NHS foundation trusts (NHSFTs) under its prudential borrowing code. However, for NHS trusts, the Department ultimately makes the decision about how much capital or working capital is required and the source of finance.
The following information in respect of NHS trusts has been placed in the Library:
Prudential borrowing limits relating to 2008-09 for NHS trusts based on 2007-08 annual accounts data; and
Total value of assets held at 31 March 2008 for NHS trusts in existence on that date.
The information requested in relation to NHSFTs is not held centrally and is a matter for individual organisations. However, the annual reports and accounts of NHSFTs are publicly available on Monitor’s website
The amount that NHSFTs can borrow is calculated in accordance with the Prudential borrowing code which is also available from Monitor. Individual borrowing limits have also been published by Monitor (the statutory name of which is the Independent Regulator of NHS Foundation Trusts) in “NHS Foundation Trusts: Review and Consolidated Accounts 2006-07”. As at 31 March 2007, the long term borrowing limit for 59 NHSFTs amounted to £2.2 billion which is in addition to working capital facilities of £884 million. As at 31 March 2008, for 89 NHSFTs these amounts had increased to£3.2 billion and £1.2 billion respectively.
NHS: Intimidation
Mr. Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what incidences of bullying of (a) NHS and (b) his Department's staff have been reported in the last 12 months. [224240]
Mr. Bradshaw: The Department does not collect data on specific incidences of bullying within the national health service; these are investigated at a local level.
However, information from staff is available from the NHS Staff survey. The survey is a key source of information relating to a range of workforce issues in the NHS and is undertaken annually. The results of the survey are used locally to drive improvement.
The 2007 NHS Staff survey shows that 18 per cent. of staff indicated that they had experienced harassment, bullying or abuse from other staff in the previous 12 months, while 26 per cent. of staff indicated that they had experienced harassment, bullying or abuse from patients or their relatives in the previous 12 months.
Following the NHS Staff survey results, the issue of harassment, bullying and abuse is one of the five key priorities that the National Social Partnership Forum (SPF) is taking forward. The SPF (employers, NHS trade unions and Department of Health working together on workforce issues) has sponsored work with NHS staff and managers to educate and train them to recognise, prevent and deal with bullying and harassment.
Within the Department, there have been five incidences of bullying reported in the last 12 months. This represents at most 0.2 per cent. of staff.
NHS: Northampton
Ms Keeble: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much NHS spending there was in Northampton in each year between 1998 and 2008. [224111]
Mr. Bradshaw: The information is not available in the format requested. However, expenditure reported by the Northampton Teaching Primary Care Trust between 2002-03 and 2005-06 is shown in the following table.
| Expenditure (£000) | |
| Notes: 1. The Department holds no accounts figures by individual national health service organisations prior to 2000-01. In 2000-01 and 2001-02, the majority of the expenditure within Northampton was by the Northamptonshire Health Authority. Therefore, expenditure solely within Northampton cannot be separately identified. 2. Northampton Teaching PCT was established on 1 April 2002 and dissolved on 30 September 2006. Northamptonshire Teaching PCT included expenditure from the Northampton Teaching PCT in 2006-07 in its accounts and therefore cannot be separately identified. 3. Northampton Teaching PCT was merged with the Northamptonshire Heartlands PCT and the Daventry and South Northamptonshire PCT in October 2006 to form the Northamptonshire Teaching PCT. 4. This does not include all NHS spending within the Northampton area, as the element of spending by the East Midlands Strategic Health Authority within Northampton cannot be identified. 5. General dental services expenditure was accounted for by the Dental Practice Board and not by the PCT. Audited figures for Northampton cannot therefore be supplied. 6. The majority of pharmaceutical services expenditure was accounted for by the Prescription Pricing Authority and not by the PCT. Audited figures for Northampton cannot therefore be supplied. 7. Owing to lead commissioning arrangements where the lead PCT commissions on behalf of other consortium members, figures may not be consistent over time. Source: Audited summarisation schedules of Northampton Teaching PCT for 2002-03 to 2005-06. | |
NHS: Standards
Mr. Oaten: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) if he will publish the targets set under the NHS efficiency index; [224031]
(2) whether the NHS efficiency target index is in operation. [224032]
Mr. Bradshaw: There is not a national health service efficiency target index. As part of the last Comprehensive Spending Review settlement, the NHS is committed to delivering, over the period 2008-09-2010-11, 3 per cent. year-on-year efficiency improvements, which are cash-releasing, sustained and net of costs. This equates to annual savings of over £8 billion by 2010-11. The Department described its approach to delivering these savings in its “Value for Money Delivery Agreement”, published in December 2007, and will report publicly on progress, including in its autumn performance report.
Nutrition
Mr. Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) pursuant to the answer of 26 June 2008, Official Report, columns 519-22W, on NHS: Personal Records, how many nutrition-related adverse incidents were recorded in each month between January 2005 and December 2007 in each primary care trust area; [224245]
(2) pursuant to the answer of 3 June 2008, Official Report, column 911W, on NHS: Personal Records, if he will place in the Library a copy of each of the reports of nutrition-related adverse incidents made in the last 30-day period for which such reports are available. [224246]
Mr. Bradshaw: Information about nutrition-related adverse incidents in each primary care trust area is not held by the Department. The National Patient Safety Agency's National Reporting and Learning System does not capture the primary care trust area of residence of the patient involved in an adverse incident. The strategic health authority (SHA) analysis, provided in the reply to the earlier question, is based on the SHA that each NHS trust is aligned to, but those catchment areas do not map readily to primary care trust boundaries.
Reports of nutrition-related adverse incidents are not held centrally.
Slaughterhouses
Mr. Paice: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many abattoirs there were in England in each of the last 20 years, broken down by (a) county and (b) size. [224217]
Mr. Bradshaw: The information requested is in the following tables.
| Table 1: Number of abattoirs in England 1996—2008 by county | ||||||||||||
| County | 1996 | 1997 | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 |
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