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3 Nov 2008 : Column 76W—continued
The principal cause for a later service commencement date has been the significant re-scoping and redesigning of the radio solution following the major reconfiguration of the Ambulance Trusts in 2006. This has resulted in a more resilient and flexible solution being delivered which comes about through the networking of two of the communication control system and the ability of Trust control rooms to connect to either system. It is planned that all Trusts will have full service by the end of 2009.
Mr. Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether Airwave radios will be provided to (a) all ambulances, (b) all ambulance personnel and (c) all community first responders. [231962]
Mr. Bradshaw: The centrally funded provision of airwave Tetra radios is based on the fleet sizes and other requirements of NHS ambulance trusts in February 2005. This provision allowed for radios to be installed in all A&E ambulances, rapid response vehicles, officers cars, patient transport vehicles, on motorbikes and in air ambulances. One ambulance trust has indicated a requirement for radios for community first responders. All subsequent new requirements are added to the contract, with costs met by the trusts concerned.
Radios are not provided on ‘personal issue’ basis to all ambulance personnel. The A&E ambulance fleet is generally fitted with a vehicle set and two hand-portable radios for the crew of the vehicle, while single-manned vehicles are equipped with a vehicle set and a single hand-portable radio.
Baby Care Units
Mike Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the average occupancy rate for neonatal units in England was in each year since 1997. [231896]
Ann Keen: The average bed occupancy rates for wards open overnight were as given in the following table. The columns are total number of beds (B), number of beds occupied on average (N), and number occupied as a percentage of the total (Percentage)
| Intensive care: neonates | Other general and acute: neonates and children | |||||
| B | N | Percentage | B | N | Percentage | |
| Source: Department of Health form KH03 | ||||||
Breast Cancer
Dr. Alasdair McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what recent steps his Department has taken to raise awareness of breast cancer among the general public; [231058]
(2) what steps his Department has taken to raise awareness among the general public that breast cancer can affect men as well as women. [231059]
Ann Keen: Raising awareness of the symptoms of cancer is a key element of the Cancer Reform Strategy. Through the National Awareness and Early Diagnosis Initiative, we will be taking forward work to improve awareness of the signs and symptoms of all cancers, including breast cancer, among men and women. We will be working to support local interventions to increase cancer symptom awareness and encourage early presentation.
We are currently investing in the Improvement Foundation's pilot work to develop and test methods of raising awareness of breast, bowel and lung cancers in 20 of the most deprived areas in the country. Full findings are expected in 2009-10.
The Department encourages all women to be breast aware. Our Be Breast Aware leaflet (a copy of which has been placed in the Library), produced with Cancer Research UK, sets out the signs and symptoms of breast cancer so women know what to look for.
Male breast cancer is very rare. In England in 2005, 260 men were diagnosed with breast cancer in England compared to 38,108 women, and 77 men died from breast cancer in England compared to 10,244 women.
We acknowledge the importance of raising men's awareness of health issues and encouraging men to take an active interest in their health. Breast Cancer Care has produced an information pack for men, “Men with breast cancer”. The Department contributed towards the cost of the Men's Health Forum's “Men and Cancer” manual, published in 2004, which provides information on prevention and treatment for all cancers that affect men.
Dental Services: Manpower
Mr. Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many registered NHS dentists there are in (a) Ribble Valley, (b) Lancashire and (c) England. [232319]
Ann Keen: The information is not available in the format requested.
The numbers of dentists with national health service activity during the years ending 31 March, 2007 and 2008 are available in Table G1 of Annex 3 of the ‘NHS Dental Statistics for England: 2007/08’ report. Information
is provided by strategic health authority and by primary care trust but is not available by constituency. This information is based on the new dental contractual arrangements, introduced on 1 April 2006.
This report has already been placed in the Library and is also available on the NHS Information Centre website at:
The published numbers relate to headcounts and do not differentiate between full-time and part-time dentists, nor do they account for the fact that some dentists may do more NHS work than others.
Departmental ICT
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what IT projects (a) his Department and (b) each of its agencies is undertaking; and what the most recent estimate of (i) the cost and (ii) the completion date of each is. [229164]
Mr. Bradshaw: The information technology projects currently being undertaken by the Department, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) and the NHS Purchasing and Supply Agency (PASA) are shown in the following table.
| Name of organisation | Name of project | Current estimated delivery date of project | Total estimated cost of project (£000) |
| (1) Funding of an additional £500,000 currently awaits approval. (2) The website is being produced and maintained as part of the Immunisation Web Programme which started in October 2004 to support the Department ongoing immunisation programme. It does not have a given end date. (3) Cost to April 2008. (4) Estimated annual cost | |||
The IT projects currently being undertaken by Connecting for Health are shown in the following table.
| Name of organisation | Name of project | Current estimated delivery date of project | Total estimated cost of project ( £ billion ) |
| (1) NPfIT comprises a number of separate systems and services for which, as a whole, there is no single completion date. (2) At 2004-05 prices, including local costs, as reported by the National Audit Office in its May 2008 report on NPfIT. | |||
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