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Surgery: Waiting Lists

Mike Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what the average waiting time for a knee operation in (a) Hemel Hempstead and (b) Hertfordshire was in the latest period for which figures are available; [250563]

(2) what the average waiting time for a hip operation in (a) Hemel Hempstead and (b) Hertfordshire was in the latest period for which information is available. [250565]

Ann Keen: Information is not available in the format requested. The following table shows the median and mean time waited for hip and knee replacements of residents in the of East and North Hertfordshire Primary Care Trust and West Hertfordshire PCT in 2006-07.

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Activity in English NHS hospitals and English NHS commissioned activity in the independent sector
Days
	Hip		Knee
	Median waiting time	Mean waiting time	Median waiting time	Mean waiting time
East and North Hertfordshire PCT	163	146.3	167	151.6
West Hertfordshire PCT	141	134.2	147	144.1
Notes: Main procedure The main procedure is the first recorded procedure or intervention in the Hospital Episode Statistics (HES) data set and is usually the most resource intensive procedure or intervention performed during the episode. It is appropriate to use main procedure when looking at admission details, (e.g. time waited), but a more complete count of episodes with a particular procedure is obtained by looking at the main and the secondary procedure. Hip replacement procedures: Total Hip Replacement OPCS-4.2 codes W37—Total prosthetic replacement of hip joint using cement W38—Total prosthetic replacement of hip joint not using cement W39—Other total prosthetic replacement of hip joint Additions in OPCS-4.3 W37.4—Revision of one component of total prosthetic replacement of hip joint using cement W38.4—Revision of one component of total prosthetic replacement of hip joint not using cement W39.5—Revision of one component of total prosthetic replacement of hip joint NEC W39.6—Closed reduction of dislocated total prosthetic replacement of hip joint W93—Hybrid prosthetic replacement of hip joint using cemented acetabular component W94—Hybrid prosthetic replacement of hip joint using cemented femoral component W95—Hybrid prosthetic replacement of hip joint using cement Hip replacement procedures: Total Prosthetic Replacement of Head of Femur (These codes are included because they are for replacement of part of the hip joint.) OPCS-4.2 codes W46—Prosthetic replacement of head of femur using cement W47—Prosthetic replacement of head of femur not using cement W48—Other prosthetic replacement of head of femur Additions in OPCS-4.3 W48.5—Closed reduction of dislocated prosthetic replacement of head of femur Additions in OPCS-4.3 W40.4—Revision of one component of total prosthetic replacement of knee joint using cement W41.4—Revision of one component of total prosthetic replacement of knee joint not using cement
W42.5—Revision of one component of total prosthetic replacement of knee joint NEC Hemiarthroplasty, unicondylar or unicompartmental knee replacements (These codes are included because they are for replacement of part of the knee joint.) For the following codes (W52-W54) a site code is required in the secondary position. Both codes must be included in the search. The site codes are also listed as follows. OPCS-4.2, 4.3 W52—Prosthetic replacement of articulation of other bone using cement W53—Prosthetic replacement of articulation of other bone not using cement W54—Other prosthetic replacement of articulation of other bone The possible site codes, which would occur in a secondary procedure position (see footnote), are as follows: Z76.5—Lower end of femur NEC Z77.4—Upper end of tibia NEC Z84.4—Patellofemoral joint Z84.5—Tibiofemoral joint Z84.6—Knee joint Secondary procedure As well as the main operative procedure, there are up to 11 and 3 prior to 2002-03 secondary operative procedure fields in HES that show secondary or additional procedures performed on the patient during the episode of care. Data quality HES are compiled from data sent by more than 300 NHS trusts and primary care trusts (PCTs) in England. Data is also received from a number of independent sector organisations for activity commissioned by the English NHS. The NHS Information Centre for health and social care liaises closely with these organisations to encourage submission of complete and valid data and seeks to minimise inaccuracies and the effect of missing and invalid data via HES processes. While this brings about improvement over time, some shortcomings remain. Ungrossed data Figures have not been adjusted for shortfalls in the data, i.e. the data are ungrossed. Time waited (days) Time waited statistics from HES are not the same as the published waiting list statistics. HES provides counts and time waited for all patients admitted to hospital within a given period, whereas the published waiting list statistics count those waiting for treatment on a specific date and how long they have been on the waiting list. Also, HES calculates the time waited as the difference between the admission and decision to admit dates. Unlike published waiting list statistics, this is not adjusted for self-deferrals or periods of medical/social suspension. PCT/strategic health authority (SHA) data quality PCT and SHA data was added to historic data years in the HES database using 2002-03 boundaries, as a one-off exercise in 2004. The quality of the data on PCT of treatment and SHA of treatment is poor in 1996-97, 1997-98 and 1998-99, with over a third of all finished episodes having missing values in these years. Data quality of PCT of general practitioner (GP) practice and SHA of GP practice in 1997-98 and 1998-99 is also poor, with a high proportion missing values where practices changed or ceased to exist. There is less change in completeness of the residence-based fields over time, where the majority of unknown values are due to missing postcodes on birth episodes. Users of time series analysis including these years need to be aware of these issues in their interpretation of the data. The PCTs used are as follows: 5P3—West Hertfordshire PCT 5P4—East and North Hertfordshire PCT Method of admission The method of admission is how the patient was admitted to hospital. When calculating time waited, admissions are elective so the following methods are used: 11 Elective—from waiting list 12 Elective—booked Code ‘13 Elective—planned’ is not included as it has been the patients choice to defer. Source: Hospital Episode Statistics (HES), The NHS Information Centre for health and social care

Tobacco: Sales

Mr. Dhanda: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will offer financial assistance to small businesses to cover the costs incurred in removing cigarette displays in shops. [250718]

Dawn Primarolo: The Government currently have no such plans.

Tuberculosis: AIDS

Mark Pritchard: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what percentage of people who presented with tuberculosis in 2008 were subsequently diagnosed with acquired immune deficiency syndrome. [250127]

Dawn Primarolo: Data for tuberculosis (TB) and HIV co-infection for 2008 are not yet available. The most recent data available are for 2005.

Data from the Health Protection Agency (HPA) indicates that, in 2005, the proportion of cases of tuberculosis in England aged 15 years and over co-infected with HIV was 7.9 per cent.

Notes:

1. This figure is based on the retrospective matching of the national Enhanced Tuberculosis Surveillance database (ETS) and the national HIV/AIDS reports database.

2. Matching is carried out retrospectively because there is often considerable delay in reporting of cases and data are, therefore, available for 2005 only at present.

3. This figure also includes HIV/AIDS patients with TB as an AIDS defining illness who were not identified in the national TB database.

4. The proportion provided is for all cases of co-infection with TB and HIV because we do not have information on which infection was acquired first.

5. This figure does not include cases of co-infection in children because HIV in children is reported separately.

Vaccination: Costs

Ian Stewart: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the cost to the NHS of a single dose of DTP vaccine was in each year since 2000. [251409]

Dawn Primarolo: A vaccine containing diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis (DTP) only, has not been distributed since October 2004 because DTP has been combined with other vaccines. The individual cost of vaccine and the total cost to Government, is commercial-in-confidence.

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Energy and Climate Change

Charities

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change to which (a) charities and (b) voluntary organisations his Department has provided funding since it was established; and how much funding was provided to each. [247361]

Mr. Mike O'Brien: I am advised that this question can be answered only by incurring disproportionate costs.

Coal: Imports

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how much coal from what countries of origin was imported in the most recent 12 month period for which figures are available. [250054]

Mr. Mike O'Brien: The following table shows how much coal has been imported by country of origin in 2007. Data for 2008 will be published in the Digest of UK Energy Statistics in July 2009.

	Thousand tonnes
Russia	20,854
Republic of South Africa	7,742
Australia	4,260
Colombia	3,854
United States of America	2,523
Canada	1,771
Indonesia	1,455
People's Republic of China	265
European Union	495
Other countries	146
Total all countries	43,365
Source: Digest of UK Energy Statistics 2008

Diesel: Prices

Mrs. McGuire: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what steps the Government are taking to ensure that energy companies reduce diesel prices in line with both crude oil and petrol prices. [250305]

Mr. Mike O'Brien: I recently met with the UK Petroleum Industry Association, which represents fuel retailers, to impress upon them the urgency in passing on any reductions in costs to consumers. Recent increases in the difference between petrol and diesel retail prices are due to a relative shortage of the availability of wholesale diesel due to constraints in refinery capacity.

The Office of Fair Trading is responsible for ensuring that UK markets are competitive.

Energy: Prices

Helen Southworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what steps he is taking to encourage energy suppliers to (a) publicise the availability of and (b) maximise take-up of social tariffs by eligible customers. [249200]

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Mr. Mike O'Brien: Suppliers agreed at the fuel poverty summit organised by Ofgem in April 2008, to provide greater visibility of their offers. Following this Ofgem has worked with the suppliers to ensure that information about their social tariffs and programmes and a contact phone number for consumers to check their eligibility, is available on all the suppliers' websites.

Energy suppliers have committed to collectively spend £100 million this year, rising to £125 million next year and £150 million by 2011 on social assistance. In order to meet this commitment to Government the suppliers need to inform their customers about the assistance available to vulnerable groups through their social tariff scheme.

Expenditure on suppliers' social assistance is monitored by Ofgem and they estimated, in a report published in December 2008, that over 800,000 customer accounts are now benefiting from a social tariff. This is a significant increase, almost doubling, since March 2008 which is a good indication of the level of awareness of the assistance suppliers offer.

Fuel Poverty

Dr. Kumar: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what his most recent estimate is of the number of people (a) in Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland constituency, (b) the Tees Valley, (c) the North-East and (d) the UK who are living in fuel poverty; and what forecast he has made of the number of people in the North-East who will be living in fuel poverty in 10 years' time. [249566]

Joan Ruddock: The most recent year for which sub-regional estimates of fuel poverty are available is 2003. The data for fuel poverty levels for 2003 come from the fuel poverty indicator dataset available online at:

http://www.fuelpovertyindicator.org.uk

In 2003, there were around (a) 2,400 fuel poor households in Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland; (b) 17,700 fuel poor households in the Tees Valley; (c) 95,000 fuel poor households in the North-East; and (d) two million fuel poor households in the UK.

No regional projections have been made of fuel poverty.

Fuel poverty is not measured at an individual level.

Nuclear Power: France

John Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what discussions he has had with the French Government on nuclear fuel recycling following the agreement between the UK and France to co-operate on nuclear energy. [248541]

Mr. Mike O'Brien: No further discussions yet have taken place with the French Government on nuclear fuel recycling following the agreement between the UK and France to co-operate on nuclear energy.

Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform

Arms Trade: Israel

Dr. Starkey: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what information his Department holds on the number of F16 jets used by the Israeli air force in the
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recent military operation over Gaza which contain British-made components; and what steps the Government have taken to ensure that none of the British-made heads up units were incorporated in Israeli F16 jets involved in bombing Gaza recently. [249635]

Ian Pearson: This Department does not hold any such information.

The UK operates a licensing system built around pre-licensing assessment whereby it assesses the risk of misuse of UK supplied equipment before deciding whether or not to grant a licence. All export licence applications are carefully assessed on a case-by-case basis against the Consolidated EU and National Arms Export Licensing Criteria. Judgments on export licence applications take account of the information and circumstances at the time of application. HMG seeks advice from its advisors in its diplomatic posts overseas in relation to all export licence applications, including for Israel.

Construction: Apprentices

Mr. Roger Williams: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform if he will take steps to ensure that construction companies undertaking public sector infrastructure works are required to employ apprentices. [244277]

Mr. Simon: I have been asked to reply.

Over the last 10 years this Government have rescued the apprenticeships programme, more than doubling the number of starts to over 180,000 in 2006/07.

To support apprenticeships in construction, Government Departments and agencies have now committed that when they let a new construction contract, they will consider making it a requirement that successful contractors employ apprentices as a proportion of the project work force. We estimate that this will support some 7,000 apprenticeships over the next three years.

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