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26 Jan 2009 : Column 245W—continued
NHS: Crimes of Violence
Mr. Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people have been convicted of abusing NHS staff on (a), one, (b) two, (c) three and (d) four or more occasions in each of the last three years. [251064]
Ann Keen: The information is not available and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
Since 2004-05, the number of criminal sanctions reported by national health service bodies in England in cases of physical assaults against NHS staff has been collected annually by the NHS Security Management Service. This information is shown in the following table:
| Number | |
cautions and conditional cautions;
community rehabilitation or punishment orders;
imprisonment (including suspended sentences);
conditional discharges; and
fines.
NHS: Disclosure of Information
Mr. Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what powers he has in existing legislation to make directions requiring NHS bodies to publish information relating to the quality of NHS services which they provide; and if he will make a statement. [250892]
Mr. Bradshaw: Section 8 of the National Health Service Act 2006 provides that the Secretary of State may give directions to certain NHS bodies about the exercise of any of their functions. The Secretary of State may use the powers in section 8 to require the publication of information by these bodies. This power covers NHS bodies in public ownership, but does not allow the Secretary of State to make directions for other bodies providing NHS healthcare services.
The quality accounts provisions in the Health Bill published on 16 January seek to establish a requirement for anyone providing NHS healthcare services to publish information about the quality of those services, regardless of the status of the provider, as set out in the report of Government’s review of the future of the NHS, “High Quality Care for All”.
NHS: Safety
Mr. Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what provision there is for exempting NHS organisations from full compliance with (a) fire safety standards and (b) health and safety standards in respect of patient-occupied floor areas; and what measurement his Department makes of such exemptions (i) nationally and (ii) locally. [250881]
Mr. Bradshaw: The NHS and Community Care Act 1990 removed Crown immunity from national health service premises. Since then, the NHS has been required to comply with all fire safety and health and safety legislation.
NHS: Standards
Mr. Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what progress has been made in piloting integrated care organisations as referred to in his Department’s NHS next stage review, “High Quality Care for All”, published 30 June 2008. [249155]
Mr. Bradshaw: Following the announcement that the Department would launch a pilot programme to test and evaluate clinically-led models of integrated care, and an initial event to engage with the national health service and social care organisations, the Department published a prospectus setting out the scope of the programme and process for selection, and inviting applications, in October 2008. Over 100 applications were received by the deadline of November 2008.
These initial applications were shortlisted down to 37 sites to go forward to the final stage of the selection process during December 2008. This stage will involve further analysis of written information from sites, as well as a series of site visits.
The aim is for the final pilot sites to be selected by the end of March 2009.
The pilot programme will run for two years, with the evaluation taking place over three years.
Orthopaedics
Mr. Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many finished episodes of care for elective orthopaedic surgery there were in each year since 1997-98. [249274]
Mr. Bradshaw: The number of elective finished consultant episodes for trauma and orthopaedics in each year from 1997-98 to present is shown in the following table.
| Finished admission episodes | |
| Note: 1. HES data cannot distinguish orthopaedic episodes only. Data have been provided where the consultant’s main specialty is trauma and orthopaedics. 2. Count of elective finished admission episodes where the consultant’s main specialty is trauma and orthopaedics in 1997-98 to 2006-07. 3. Activity in English NHS Hospitals and English NHS commissioned activity in the independent sector. Source: Hospital Episode Statistics (HES), The NHS Information Centre for health and social care. | |
Osteoporosis
Mr. Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many hospital admissions for (a) all osteoporosis-related conditions and (b) osteoporotic fractures there have been in each year since 1997-98, as recorded by the Hospital Episodes Statistics database. [249269]
Ann Keen: The total number of hospital admissions where there was a primary diagnosis for osteoporosis, an osteoporosis-related conditions, and osteoporotic fractures, for the years 1997-98 to 2006-07 is given in the following table.
| Total finished admission episodes | ||
| Osteoporosis and osteoporosis-related conditions | Osteoporotic fractures | |
| Note: A finished admission episode is the first period of inpatient care under one consultant within one health care provider. Finished admission episodes are counted against the year in which the admission episode finishes. Admissions do not represent the number of inpatients, as a person may have more than one admission within the year. | ||
Pain: Health Services
Mr. Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate he has made of the proportion of pain management services provided by the NHS which offer individual psychological therapy; and if he will make a statement. [249264]
Ann Keen: The Department has made no such estimate. It is the responsibility of primary care trusts to decide which services and treatments it will provide to meet the needs of its population.
The Department does recognise that the effects of chronic pain on quality of life can be considerable, and that the treatment of pain is less successful when psychological components of pain are not addressed through an integrated pain management programme. The Department has published an 18-week patient pathway for chronic pain which provides commissioners with the support they need to commission services appropriately. A copy has been placed in the Library. NHS Choices has also provided information that will raise the awareness of chronic pain and treatments, including psychological components.
In addition, the Department has established an Expert Patients programme (EPP) to help patients manage their long-term conditions through programmes that address issues such as healthy eating, dealing with pain and extreme tiredness, relaxation techniques and coping with feelings of depression, including a “Persistent Pain programme”. The EPP has helped more than 30,000 patients since it was established in April 2002.
Patient Choice Schemes
Sandra Gidley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what proportion of hospital appointments were made in each primary care trust using choose and book in the last period for which figures were available. [250167]
Mr. Bradshaw: The proportion of general practitioner (GP) referrals to a first consultant-led out-patient appointment made in each primary care trust using Choose and Book for November 2008 is shown in the following table.
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