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26 Nov 2008 : Column 2081W—continued
The main conclusion of the recent review by the European Commission of the early operation of the directive is that there has been insufficient experience across the European Union to justify making substantive changes to most aspects of the legislation at this stage. During the course of the review, the MHRA, among others, had raised the case for greater flexibility to take account of evidence of traditional usage from outside Europe. We continue to believe that there is a case for change in this area. We also welcome the recognition in the review that there may be a case for extending the scope of the directive to certain other categories of traditional medicine where there is a long established pattern of safe use.
Hospitals: Cleaning Services
Mr. Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what guidance his Department has issued to the NHS on the frequency with which different parts of hospitals should be cleaned in the last five years. [228273]
Ann Keen: Locally determined cleaning frequencies are key to trusts meeting the requirements of the Code of Practice for the Prevention and Control of Healthcare Associated Infections (a copy of which has been placed in the Library,), identifying the resources needed to keep hospitals clean and demonstrating to the Healthcare Commission that those resources are sufficient.
The first set of recommended minimum cleaning frequencies was set out in Revised Guidance on Contracting for Cleaning, published by the then NHS Estates Agency in December 2004. A copy has been placed in the Library. This best practice document was designed to assist the National Health Service in ensuring that contracts for cleaning were driven by quality rather than price.
The existing minimum recommended cleaning frequencies are set out in the national specifications for cleanliness in the NHS: a framework for setting and measuring performance outcomes (a copy of which has been placed in the Library). This document was published in updated form by the National Patient Safety Agency in April 2007. Minimum recommended cleaning frequencies have been provided in specimen form to help trusts produce their own frequencies specific for their own needs. A single national set of cleaning frequencies would be inappropriate since it could not meet every NHS organisation’s needs.
Hospitals: Crimes of Violence
Chris Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many hospitals with accident and emergency departments provide anonymised data to their local (a) police and (b) crime and disorder reduction partnership to assist them to identify violence hot spots. [238568]
Mr. Bradshaw: This information is not collected centrally.
Hospitals: Infectious Diseases
Mr. Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the rate of (a) MRSA and (b) clostridium difficile infection in hospitals was in each region in England in each financial year since 1997-08 for which figures are available. [238905]
Ann Keen: The best available data from the mandatory surveillance schemes for methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) blood stream infections and Clostridium difficile ( C. difficile) infection are shown in the following tables.
The data for MRSA bloodstream infections are regional six-monthly rates per 10,000 bed days for the period
April 2001 to March 2008. The data for C. difficile infection are regional rates in patients aged 65 years and over per 1,000 bed days by calendar year for the period January 2004 to December 2007.
Before 2001 and 2004 when the mandatory schemes for MRSA and C. difficile respectively began, data collection was voluntary and incomplete.
| Regional distribution of MRSA (bacteraemia) bloodstream infection rates, April 2001 to March 2008 | ||||||||||||||
| Six-monthly MRSA bacteraemia rate per 10,000 bed-days | ||||||||||||||
| HPA region | Apr 2001 to Sept 2001 | Oct 2001 to Mar 2002 | Apr 2002 to Sept 2002 | Oct 2002 to Mar 2003 | Apr 2003 to Sept 2003 | Oct 2003 to Mar 2004 | Apr 2004 to Sept 2004 | Oct 2004 to Mar 2005 | Apr 2005 to Sept 2005 | Oct 2005 to Mar 2006 | Apr 2006 to Sept 2006 | Oct 2006 to Mar 2007 | Apr 2007 to Sept 2007 | Oct 2007 to Mar 2008 |
| Notes: 1. Data are provisional as they may be updated in year. 2. Relates to patients ages 65 years and over. Source: Health Protection Agency Data as published in the Surveillance of Healthcare Associated Infections Report: 2008. Available at: http://www.hpa.org.uk/web/HPAwebFile/HPAweb_C/1216193833496 | ||||||||||||||
| Regional distribution of C. difficile infection rates, January 2004 to December 2007 | ||||
| Calendar year rate of C. difficile infection per 1000 bed days | ||||
| HPA region | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 |
| Notes: 1. Data are provisional as they may be updated in year. 2. Relates to patients ages 65 years and over. Source: Health Protection Agency Data as published in the Surveillance of Healthcare Associated Infections Report: 2008. Available at: http://www.hpa.org.uk/web/HPAwebFile/HPAweb_C/1216193833496 | ||||
Hospitals: Telephone Services
Mr. Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what recent estimate he has made of the unit cost of (a) making and (b) receiving phone calls on (i) adult and (ii) children's wards in NHS hospitals. [238895]
Mr. Bradshaw: Around 84,000 patients have access to their own bedside telephone. Private companies install and manage the service, therefore it is provided free to the national health service.
The cost of the outgoing call, from the bedside telephone, is 10 pence per minute. The incoming call charge ranges from 20 pence to 50 pence, depending upon which company is providing the service.
These charges apply to both adult and children's wards.
Other options exist for people not wishing to use the bedside telephone systems. These include the traditional payphones and hospital switchboard facilities, which ensure friends and relatives can be kept up to date on the patient's progress.
Mobile phones can also be used in certain areas of the hospital.
Individual NHS trusts are responsible for running the payphones and switchboard facilities in their hospitals. Therefore, the cost of these calls varies according to local arrangements.
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