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9 Dec 2008 : Column 72W—continued
John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) how many cardiac rehabilitation programmes in England have contributed to the national audit of cardiac rehabilitation; [240363]
(2) what recent assessment he has made of adequacy of cardiac rehabilitation services in England. [240364]
Ann Keen: The Department does not collect information about the number of cardiac rehabilitation programmes in England who have contributed to the national audit of cardiac rehabilitation, and the quality of service provided.
This information is available in the annual national audit of cardiac rehabilitation's (NACR) 2008 annual report which can be found on the NACR's website:
We do need to focus our attention on improving cardiac rehabilitation services. Chapter Seven of the National Service Framework for Coronary Heart Disease, published in 2000, issued appropriate guidance to the national health services regarding the provision of cardiac rehabilitation services. Implementation of this guidance is a matter for the local NHS, working in partnership with stakeholders and the local community. It is for NHS organisations to plan and develop services based on their specific local knowledge and expertise.
Hospitals: Infectious Diseases
David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the process is by which relatives of patients are informed when a patient has contracted MRSA or another hospital-acquired infection in each hospital in England. [240567]
Ann Keen: The Department does not collect information on individual trusts' policies for informing patients and their relatives of diagnoses. This is a matter for local determination.
Test results for health care associated infections provide information as to where the infection was identified only. Infections may be acquired outside of the trust making the diagnosis.
Incontinence: Medical Equipment
Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what requirements must be met for a company to receive remuneration for the dispensing of incontinence appliances under a dispensing appliance contractors licence; what recent representations he has received about the issue; and if he will make a statement. [241125]
Phil Hope: In order to provide and to be paid for appliances supplied as part of NHS services in England, a contractor should apply to the primary care trust (PCT) in which its premises are situated to be included on that PCT's pharmaceutical list. This also applies if an existing NHS contractor changes ownership. The Secretary of State has delegated the NHS Litigation Authority to hear appeals concerning PCTs' decisions.
Once included on the list, NHS suppliers of appliances must comply with the relevant terms of service. These are set out in Schedule 3 to the NHS (Pharmaceutical Services) Regulations 2005 (SI 2005/641), as amended.
Our consultation ‘Pharmacy in England: Building on Strengths, Delivering the Future—Proposals for Legislative Change’ included proposals to amend the current legislation concerning entry to the NHS market for suppliers of appliances. That consultation closed on 20 November 2008. We will decide what further steps are appropriate after full consideration of the responses received.
Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether the proposal to require dispensing appliance contractors to provide a home delivery service will apply in circumstances where the contractors would be providing such a service at a financial loss; what recent representations he has received about this issue; and if he will make a statement. [241126]
Phil Hope: The last consultation relating to the Part IX review—‘Proposed New Arrangements Under Part IX of the Drug Tariff for the Provision of Stoma and Urology Appliances—and Related Services—in Primary Care’, which closed in September 2008—sought views on a number of proposed new arrangements, including a proposal regarding payment by way of fees for the home delivery of certain items if patients so required and the provision, where necessary, of a reasonable supply of complimentary wipes and disposal bags with certain items.
In responding to the consultation, views were expressed by some dispensing contractors as to the affordability of these proposals. These responses will be taken into account.
Locums
Mr. Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate he has made of the number of hours worked by locums in the NHS in each of the last five years at (a) the grade of the locum, (b) a grade below that of the locum and (c) a grade above that of the locum. [241684]
Ann Keen: This information is not collected centrally.
Mr. Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Health at what rate a locum covering a job below his or her grade is paid. [241785]
Ann Keen: This information is not collected centrally.
Maternity Services
John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what recent progress has been made by the Neonatal Taskforce; and if he will make a statement. [240706]
Ann Keen: The Neonatal Taskforce, chaired by NHS Medical Director Professor Sir Bruce Keogh, has met on five occasions. Four working groups have been established to take forward the key areas of data for commissioning, workforce, transfers and surgery, and are currently developing the quality standards and toolkits required for a comprehensive neonatal service.
Progress has been made within the Northern and Essex regions in developing a formal managed clinical network for neonatology. Networks are continuing to develop their specialist neonatal transfer services with the aim to ensure 24-hour seven-day-a-week access. Further progress is required and is being worked towards.
MRSA: Screening
John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether he expects MRSA screening for all elective patients to be in place by March 2009. [240911]
Mike Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of progress made towards meeting his Department's target for all elective admissions to hospitals to be screened for MRSA by March 2009; and what steps he takes to monitor such progress. [240741]
Ann Keen: The Department has issued guidance covering methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) screening and expects all trusts to be screening relevant elective patients from April 2009 when our national commitment commences.
The Department has a temporary national screening data collection system providing information on screening activity. This system is monitored to assess progress.
The national health service is expected to have appropriate local assurances in place from April 2009 to ensure screening is taking place.
Neurofibromatosis
Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for Health with reference to the answer of 26 November 2008, Official Report, columns 2100-1W, on neurofibromatosis, what treatments for neurofibromatosis are available on the National Health Service. [240735]
Ann Keen: There is currently no cure for neurofibromatosis, however the national health service is able to provide treatments for some of the complications of this distressing condition. Neurofibromas in awkward or unsightly positions can sometimes be removed surgically, and pain relief is available.
The full range of NHS health and social care is available for those with specific complications which may include learning difficulties, behavioural problems, high blood pressure, epilepsy and hearing and speech problems.
NHS: Occupational Health
John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the (a) commencement and (b) completion dates are for the three healthy organisations pilots on health and well-being of NHS staff. [240379]
Ann Keen: The 'Creating a Healthier NHS' pilot scheme was launched in July 2008. The scheme will run for two years completing in June 2010.
NHS: Public Participation
Mr. Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list the Local Involvement Networks which are operational. [241424]
Ann Keen: The information requested is not collected centrally.
NHS: Standards
Mr. Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health which NHS organisations (a) collect and (b) collate data on serious untoward incidents in the NHS. [241145]
Ann Keen: Serious Untoward Incidents data are collected and collated by trusts, strategic health authorities and the National Patient Safety Agency.
Nurses: Manpower
Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many full-time equivalent nurses were employed within the NHS in each year since 1996. [241049]
Ann Keen: The number of full-time equivalent nurses (including practice nurses) from 1996 are given in the following table:
| Number | |
Ophthalmic Services: Expenditure
David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the cost of NHS ophthalmic services was in each region in the last 12 months. [240572]
Ann Keen: Expenditure data relating to ‘Problems of Vision’, covering both primary and secondary care services, are collected as part of the annual programme budgeting returns to the Department by primary care trusts. Programme budgeting data for 2007-08 are due to be collected from primary care trusts during December 2008 and therefore are not currently available.
Patients: Safety
Norman Lamb: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many patient safety incidents of each type, classified as causing (a) no harm , (b) low harm, (c) moderate harm, (d) severe harm and (e) death, were recorded in each NHS trust in each quarter since the inception of the national reporting and learning system. [240531]
Ann Keen: As a consequence of national health service reconfigurations over the past five years, the information requested is not currently available. The regular National Reporting and Learning System Quarterly Data Summaries from the National Patient Safety Agency (NPSA) provide a breakdown for incidents in England and Wales by degree of harm and incident type, for a range of care settings.
In addition, from February 2009 the NPSA will be publishing NHS trust level data, including a breakdown by incident type and degree of harm.
Pharmacy
John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many pharmacies there were in England on 31 March 2008. [240724]
Phil Hope: Information on the number of community pharmacies is collected by the Information Centre for Health and Social Care and published in the ‘General Pharmaceutical Services in England and Wales 1998-99 to 2007-08’. Table 4a, of the bulletin states that in 2007-08 there were 10,291 community pharmacies in contract with the national health service in England.
Copies of the latest bulletin have been placed in the Library and at:
John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the expenditure of the Public Health Leadership Forum for Pharmacy was in financial year 2007-08. [240918]
Phil Hope: The expenditure incurred for the Public Health Leadership Forum for Pharmacy for 2007-08 was £881, which relates to travel expenses and locum costs for some forum members.
Pharmacy: Training
John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what recent progress has his Department made in the development of new qualifications for pharmacy support staff; and if he will make a statement; [240704]
(2) what his policy is on revision of the national occupational standards in pharmacy; and if he will make a statement. [240920]
Phil Hope:
The project to revise the National Occupational Standards (NOS) for pharmacy and, from these, develop new qualifications for pharmacy support is being taken forward by Skills for Health, the Sector Skills Council for health in consultation with a wide
range of stakeholders. The project is funded via the United Kingdom Commission for Employment and Skills.
The project has reviewed the original occupational standards in pharmacy and produced 26 contemporary NOS. In addition, six new NOS have been developed.
The new qualifications at level 2 and level 3 for pharmacy support staff will reflect the updated NOS and are intended to be consistent with both the new qualification framework in England, Wales and Northern Ireland—the Qualifications and Credit Framework (QCF)—and the existing framework in Scotland. The new qualifications will be developed by autumn 2009.
The pharmacy White Paper ‘Pharmacy in England: Building on Strengths—Delivering the Future’ (Cm 7341) states in paragraph 7.44 that the Government will consider what further training may be required to enable pharmacy technicians to supervise certain aspects of the sale or supply of medicine as envisaged by the Health Act 2006.
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