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2 Feb 2009 : Column 933W—continued
Cancer
Mrs. Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much the Government plans to spend to modernise health service equipment for cancer treatments over the next three years; and what types of equipment are planned to be replaced. [251456]
Ann Keen: As part of the Cancer Reform Strategy (CRS), £250 million capital funding has been made available over the next three years (2008-09 to 2010-11) to improve and modernise cancer equipment. This funding will be included in the total capital funding available to the national health service under the NHS capital planning process. Equipment which has reached the end of its useful life should be replaced under local capital investment strategies.
It will be for local determination to decide the level of funding required to meet the needs of their patients and to ensure local cancer services are delivered and equipment is maintained and replaced in accordance with commitments, standards and recommendations made in the CRS and other relevant guidance provided by professional bodies.
Departmental Buildings
Mr. Hoban:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much his Department spent on works and
refurbishment to offices allocated to Ministers in his Department’s buildings in the last 12 months. [252374]
Mr. Bradshaw: The Department has expended the sum of £13,352.62 on works and refurbishment to Ministers’ offices within the last 12 month period.
The expenditure is broken down into:
| £ | |
|
Repairs to roof which caused water damage to Secretary of State’s room | |
Departmental ICT
Jenny Willott: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the initial estimated (a) cost and (b) delivery date was of each ICT project initiated by his Department in each year since 1997; what the (i) outturn cost and (ii) completion date was of each such project subsequently completed; which contractors were hired for each project; and how much has been paid to each contractor in respect of each project to date. [251382]
Mr. Bradshaw: This information could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
Departmental Public Expenditure
Norman Lamb: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what scheduled capital expenditure in the NHS his Department is planning to delay. [253470]
Dawn Primarolo: There are no plans by the Department to delay any existing capital programmes or individual schemes.
General Dental Council
Laura Moffatt: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when he expects the new General Dental Council to be in place. [252135]
Ann Keen: The General Dental Council (GDC) is working closely with the Department to deliver the new GDC in advance of the expiry of the terms of office of the current council, on 9 October 2009.
Health Professions
Anne Milton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many (a) qualified nursing, (b) midwifery and (c) health visiting staff were (i) male and (ii) female in each year from 2006. [252703]
Ann Keen: The following table gives a breakdown by gender for qualified nursing, midwifery and health visiting staff from 2006.
| Registered midwife | Health visitor | Nurse | ||||||
| At 30 September each year | Total | Unknown gender | Male | Female | Male | Female | Male | Female |
Hospitals: Retail Trade
Paul Rowen: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) how many complaints his Department has received on prices charged in retail outlets within NHS hospitals in each of the last 12 months; [253162]
(2) what recent discussions he has had on his Department’s policy on lease of retail spaces in hospitals; and if he will make a statement; [253163]
(3) how many NHS hospitals receive (a) a percentage of retail outlet revenue and (b) a flat fee when leasing space within their buildings to retailers. [253170]
Dawn Primarolo: Under income generation powers hospitals are able to establish and operate retail outlets that complement and extend the range of services and facilities for patients and visitors, as well as providing additional income that is re-invested directly back into local healthcare services.
The specifics of any contract and the operation of the outlets are a matter for local national health service management. The Department does not hold any records of these contracts.
There have not been any recent ministerial discussions regarding policy on the leasing of retail space in hospitals.
Income generation guidance advises that prices must conform to Fair Trading, Enterprise and Competition legislation. The Department’s records of correspondence show no instances of complaints relating to prices charged in NHS retail outlets in the last 12 months.
Medical Records
Norman Lamb: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what progress has been made towards ensuring that GP care record systems will be compatible with the Summary Care Record. [252340]
Mr. Bradshaw: Three general practitioner (GP) care systems have successfully demonstrated compatibility and have been used in the creation of patient summary care records in the early adopter primary care trusts. It is anticipated that a fourth supplier will have achieved compatibility by April 2009. These four suppliers represent 95 per cent. of all GP care systems in use throughout England. Other suppliers are making progress towards compatibility, but no firm timelines exist for their systems to achieve compatibility at this stage.
Norman Lamb: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what proportion of patients in each (a) acute trust, (b) primary care trust, (c) mental health trust and (d) GP practice have had their care records uploaded; [252341]
(2) how many and what proportion of (a) acute trusts, (b) primary care trusts, (c) mental health trusts and (d) GP practices in each region have deployed summary care records; and what the timetable for their full deployment is. [252342]
Mr. Bradshaw:
A summary care record (SCR) early adopter programme has been established in a small number of primary care trusts (PCTs) to ensure lessons were learned prior to national implementation of the
SCR. The number of patient records created and the number of general practitioner (GP) practices that have created summary care records, as at 27 January 2009, are in the following table.
In accordance with the NHS operating framework 2009-10, strategic health authorities will agree the timeline for implementing the SCR with PCTs as commissioners, and have been asked to plan for roll-out of the SCR based on a two-year window for the full deployment of SCR from the date on which all GP systems used in the PCT area are compliant with national programme for information technology systems and services.
| PCT | General practices live with SCR | Number of SCRs created |
Other NHS organisations and services able to access the summary care record:
Royal Bolton Hospital, Accident and Emergency Service;
Bolton Out of Hours Service;
Bolton Walk in Centre, Lever Chambers Centre;
Bury Out of Hours Service;
Bury and Rochdale Doctors on Call BARDOC;
Fairfield General Hospital Bury, Accident and Emergency Department; and
Pennine Care NHS Foundation Trust, Mental Health Services.
Medical Treatments: EU Law
Dr. Iddon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what information his Department has on progress made recently in implementing the Medicines Directive in (a) Jersey and (b) Guernsey; [252887]
(2) when he expects the Medicines (Human and Veterinary) (Bailiwick of Guernsey) Law, 2008 to come into force in Guernsey. [252888]
Dawn Primarolo: The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) has a meeting with the government of Jersey on 11 February 2009 to begin discussions on the implementation of the Medicines Directive 2001/83/EC. Guernsey's Medicines Law received Royal Assent on 10 December 2008 and now requires an ordinance by the states of Guernsey to bring it in to force. This is expected in spring 2009. The MHRA continues to assist the government of Guernsey in the development of the additional legislation required for implementation of the Medicines Directive.
Midwives: Insurance
Harry Cohen: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the likely effects on independent midwifery of the implementation of Article 5 of the draft European Directive on the application of patients’ rights in cross-border healthcare, with specific reference to the provisions on professional liability insurance. [252133]
Dawn Primarolo: The draft directive on the application of patients’ rights in cross-border healthcare is currently subject to negotiations as part of the European co-decision process.
The Government have already signalled their intention that independent midwives should have professional indemnity cover and are committed to supporting them to do so.
MRSA
Dr. Kumar: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps his Department is taking to reduce levels of MRSA infections in hospitals. [253127]
Ann Keen: The Department's strategy for reducing health care associated infections (HCAIs), including methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), in the national health service (NHS) is set out in ‘Clean, safe care’, which has already been placed in the Library.
Infection control is one of the five top priorities in the NHS Operating Framework for 2008-09 and MRSA and Clostridium difficile targets to 2010-11 have been set under the Better Care for All Public Service Agreement. Clean, safe care outlines the comprehensive range of measures being employed, backed by £270 million additional investment per year by 2010-11 to tackle HCAIs and improve cleanliness.
Steps include screening all relevant elective admissions to hospitals for MRSA from April 2009, and all emergency admissions by 2010-11; a technology programme designed to accelerate the development and uptake of new technologies to improve infection control; the development
of a new national standard for cleanliness in the NHS and a new national minimum standard for MRSA. The Department has re-launched its nationwide antibiotic awareness campaign, and will be launching a HCAI patient awareness campaign in the summer.
These measures should support the NHS to meet their legal requirements on infection control, as set out in the Code of Practice for the Prevention and Control of Healthcare Associated Infections, which has already been placed in the Library. All acute NHS trusts are inspected annually against the code of practice by the Healthcare Commission. From April 2009, the new Care Quality Commission will assess compliance against the code of practice and will have a broader range of powers to ensure high performance in infection control.
NHS: ICT
Norman Lamb: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many staff in his Department have been employed (a) on the Connecting for Health project and (b) in roles relating to press and public relations work on the project in each year since it was announced. [252332]
Mr. Bradshaw: Available information is in the following table. For 2003-05 it relates to the national programme for information technology (NPfIT) only. On 1 April 2005 the Department’s NHS Connecting for Health agency came into being. NHS Connecting for Health is responsible for delivering NPfIT, and maintaining the critical business systems previously provided to the national health service by the former NHS Information Authority.
| Total | Media team( 1) | |||
| Employees | Other | Employees | Other | |
| n/a = Not available (1) Staff roles allocated on a ‘best fit’ basis with “press and public relations” duties. Notes: 1. Figures are for full-time equivalent staff. ‘Other’ includes contract and temporary staff, and secondees. 2. Because of variation in staff numbers to meet workloads over time, figures are quoted for dates for which information is readily available. Figures since February 2005 are quoted as at February for ease of year-on-year comparison. | ||||
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