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28 Oct 2008 : Column 904W—continued
Phil Hope:
All cases dealt with by the national health service counter fraud service (CFS) have the potential to result in criminal prosecution. The CFS also seeks
civil recovery of losses to the NHS and investigation costs, as well as disciplinary sanctions before the appropriate regulatory or disciplinary body.
No pharmaceutical appliance contractors have been prosecuted in relation to dispensing or multiple licences in the last five years.
Mike Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) how many dispensing appliance contractors dispense appliances above the level of the infrastructure payment cap of 50,000 proposed by his Department; and to how many patients these contractors provide services; [230131]
(2) how many (a) industry representatives, (b) patient groups and (c) NHS organisations responded to the June 2008 consultation on changes to Part IX of the Drug Tariff; and what plans he has to publish the results of the consultation; [230132]
(3) what assessment he has made of the advantages and disadvantages for dispensing appliance contractors with multiple dispensing licences under (a) the current on-cost system and (b) the system of remuneration proposed by his Department in its consultation on the provision of appliances under Part IX of the Drug Tariff; [230216]
(4) pursuant to the answer of 6 October 2008, Official Report, column 434W, on incontinence: medical equipment, for what reason it is proposed to cap the infrastructure payment for Part IX-related services at 50,000 prescription items; [230217]
(5) pursuant to the answer of 6 October 2008, Official Report, column 434W, on incontinence: medical equipment, how many respondents to his Department’s previous consultations on his Department’s proposals for provision of stoma and incontinence appliances under Part IX of the Drug Tariff (a) requested a cap at 50,000 prescription items and (b) advocated the removal of any cap. [230218]
Phil Hope: In addition to a number of proposals relating to payment by way of fees for specific services which patients will receive directly—such as home delivery—the Department’s latest consultation “Proposed new arrangement under Part IX for the provision of stoma and urology appliances and related services in primary care” (which has already been placed in the Library) proposed an infrastructure payment which is designed to cover requirements that are not directly linked to dispensing a prescription item for instance, operating within a clinical governance framework. It was proposed that the payment should be banded and capped according to the number of stoma and urology items dispensed on a monthly basis. The highest band was 30,000-50,000 items and two dispensing appliance contractors dispense more than 50,000 prescription items per month. The Department is now analysing responses to the consultation, including views on the proposed cap to the infrastructure payment.
About 450,000 people use stoma and urology appliances. Under the current arrangements that primary care trusts have with dispensing appliance contractors (DACs) there is no requirement for them to provide patient numbers. However, in responding to the Department’s latest proposals some DACs have provided specific numbers in support of their views.
Responses to the June consultation were received from:
41 industry representatives
13 patient groups
27 NHS organisations
Control of entry was outside the scope of the June consultation. However, some assessment of the implications of the proposed remuneration system for appliance contractors with multiple dispensing licences has been made in the impact assessment—small firms sections—to illustrate the impact of different licence arrangements on the different possible remunerations (pages 26, 27).
In the September 2007 consultation, the infrastructure payment cap was set at 35,000 part IX items dispensed per month. This cap was raised to 50,000 items per month in the June 2008 consultation.
The proposal took account of views expressed by interested parties in response to the September 2007 consultation that:
the level of infrastructure payment proposed could disrupt ongoing patient care;
the banded structure for the infrastructure payment would affect individual contractors in a different way, inadvertently favouring some providers over others; and
the volume cap proposed was too low and disadvantaged companies dispensing a high number of part IX prescription items to an excessive extent.
Views were sought on the new proposals and the Department is in the process of analysing responses.
140 responses were received to the September 2007 consultation. Of these:
none requested a cap of 50,000 prescription items; and
two respondents advocated the removal of the cap.
Drugs: Rehabilitation
Mike Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the average duration was of methadone treatment programmes in the latest period for which figures are available. [229664]
Dawn Primarolo: The National Treatment Agency for Substance Misuse collects data on local services via the National Drug Treatment Monitoring System (NDTMS). The NDTMS does not record the specific substitute drug a drug misuser in treatment is prescribed and while the majority of clients will have received methadone, clients’ treatment programmes/regimes may have included buprenorphine and diamorphine.
The average length of each prescribing intervention in 2007-08 was 338 days.
Health Centres
Mr. Scott: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many representations his Department has received from general practitioners requesting a further consultation in respect of proposals to establish polyclinics. [227822]
Ann Keen: The Department has run a search of its database, which shows that we have received in excess of 1,000 letters on the subject of Polyclinics. However, due to the way data are collected it is not possible to provide the number of letters received from general practitioners.
Health Professions: Fraud
Mr. Gordon Prentice: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people with medical qualifications later discovered to be fake have been employed in a clinical capacity by the NHS since 2000; and if he will make a statement. [230566]
Ann Keen: I understand from the General Medical Council that they are aware of four cases of people with medical qualifications later discovered to be fake, who have been employed in a clinical capacity by the national health service since 2000.
Hospital Beds
Norman Lamb: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate he has made of the cost of introducing single rooms for all NHS patients. [227508]
Ann Keen: Each trust makes an informed choice regarding the appropriate percentage of single room provision based on practical considerations such as site restrictions, affordability as well as clinical and operational limitations. In some cases, providing single rooms for all patients may not be clinically appropriate. Single room accommodation can be introduced through new building or changing existing accommodation and will depend on the environmental and financial situation of the organisation.
The cost of introducing single rooms for all patients depends on local decisions and an estimate for providing single rooms for all national health service patients cannot be accurately provided. However, an estimate of £22.9 billion (at today's prices) was made by the NHS Estates Agency in 2004 as the cost of providing 100 per cent. single rooms across the NHS excluding mental health accommodation.
The Department's guidance for the provision of single rooms is that in new hospital developments the aim should be 50 per cent. provision, but should not fall below 20 per cent. and must be a higher percentage than the facilities they are replacing. The policy and design guidance for the provision of single rooms in mental health accommodation is 100 per cent.
Hospitals: Cleaning Services
Mr. Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when he expects to publish his Department's report on the effectiveness of its deep cleaning exercise conducted in 2007-08. [228277]
Ann Keen: The Department's report highlighting good practice examples arising from the deep clean programme will be published shortly.
Hospitals: Infectious Diseases
Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the potential merits of providing personal antimicrobial products for hospital patients as a means of combating healthcare-associated infections; and if he will make a statement. [229463]
Ann Keen: Our strategy ‘Clean Safe Care’ draws together the measures required to control infections. Generally, normal soap and toiletries are adequate for patients’ personal hygiene during their hospital stay. If decolonisation of a patient is necessary, hospitals will provide specialist soap and shampoo.
Incontinence: Medical Equipment
Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) if he will increase the additional dispensing fee under Part IX of the Drug Tariff for single line items; and if he will make a statement; [231313]
(2) how many NHS patients receive intermittent catheters through a home delivery service; and if he will make a statement. [231314]
Phil Hope: No decisions have been made regarding the additional dispensing fee, as the Department is still in the process of analysing responses to the consultation entitled ‘Proposed New Arrangements Under Part IX of the Drug Tariff for the Provision of Stoma and Urology Appliances—and Related Services—in Primary Care’ June 2008, that closed in September 2008. A copy of this consultation has already been placed in the Library.
About 450,000 people use stoma and urology appliances. Under the current arrangements that primary care trusts have with dispensing appliance contractors (DACs) there is no requirement for them to provide patient numbers. However, in responding to the Department's latest proposals some DACs have provided specific numbers in support of their views.
Influenza: Vaccination
Mr. Greg Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much his Department plans to spend in the current financial year on (a) radio advertising to encourage the public to have an influenza vaccination and (b) fees to Stephen Fry for voicing such radio advertisements. [229894]
Dawn Primarolo: The radio media costs of the influenza vaccination campaign in financial year 2008-09 are expected to be £383,000.
We are unable to provide Stephen Fry's precise fee for the flu immunisation radio campaign. This is because Mr. Fry's fee was specifically negotiated by the Central Office of Information with his agent on behalf of Department, and disclosure would represent a breach of commercial in confidence.
The total production and playout costs for the three radio advertisements being used for the campaign were £24,900 including Mr. Fry's fee.
Maternity Services
Mr. Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many (a) consultant-led and (b) midwife-led maternity units there were in England in each year since 1997 for which figures are available. [229968]
Ann Keen: I refer the hon. Member to the written answer I gave my hon. Friend the Member for Leyton and Wanstead (Harry Cohen) on 14 October 2008, Official Report, column 1176W.
Maternity Services: Manpower
Mr. Lansley:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many maternity care assistants there were in England in each of the last five financial years for
which figures are available, broken down by NHS trust. [229967]
Ann Keen: We do not collect the number of national health service maternity care assistants centrally. However, the number of unqualified maternity service staff employed in England is detailed in the following table.
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