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5 Feb 2009 : Column 1503W—continued
| Hospital and Community Health Services (HCHS): medical and dental staff( 1) and all general practitioners (excluding retainers) by specified area in England, as at 1997 and 2007 | |||
| Number (headcount) | |||
| 1997 | 2007 | ||
| n/a = Not applicable (1) Excludes medical hospital practitioners and medical clinical assistants, most of whom are GPs working part-time in hospitals. Notes: GP data in 1997, as at 1 October 1997. All other data as at 30 September 2007 Data quality: Work force statistics are compiled from data sent by more than 300 NHS trusts and primary care trusts (PCTs) in England. 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. Processing methods and procedures are continually being updated to improve data quality. Where this happens any impact on figures already published will be assessed but unless this is significant at national level they will not be changed. Where there is impact only at detailed or local level this will be footnoted in relevant analyses. Sources: The Information Centre for health and social care Medical and Dental Workforce Census The Information Centre for health and social care General and Personal Medical Services Statistics | |||
Driving Under Influence: Health Services
Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate he has made of the cost of treatment of people involved in drink-driving incidents in the last year for which figures are available. [251745]
Dawn Primarolo: The Cabinet Office report “Alcohol misuse: How much does it cost?” published in 2003(1) estimated that the cost of medical and ambulance treatment for injuries as a result of drink-driving offences recorded as crimes in England and Wales in 2001 was £31.5 million. In addition, for the same year, the Department of Transport(2) estimated that the medical and ambulance costs of fatalities from drink-driving accidents was a minimum of about £0.35 million, based upon an average of £740 for each of the estimated 480 fatalities for Great Britain in 2001.
(1) www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/strategy/work_areas/alcohol_misuse/background.aspx,annexes,table5.1
(2) www.dft.gov.uk/pgr/roadsafety/ea/ highwayseconomicsnoteno12002?page=4
Drugs: Exports
Sandra Gidley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if his Department will undertake an assessment of the potential effects on the (a) availability of medicines and (b) budgetary provision for the NHS of the transition of the UK from being a net importer to a net exporter of medicines. [253568]
Dawn Primarolo: The Department is in regular contact with the national health service, pharmaceutical companies and wholesalers, and continues to monitor the availability of medicines. The Department and the pharmaceutical industry have published joint best practice guidelines in order to help manage the availability of medicines. A copy of these guidelines has been placed in the Library and can also be found on the Department's website at:
Health Services: Standards
Mr. David Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what definition his Department uses of a quality standard, as referred to in the NHS Next Stage Review. [253709]
Mr. Bradshaw: As set out in High Quality Care for All, the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence's (NICE'S) role will be expanded to set quality standards. The Department is currently working with stakeholders, including NICE, to develop a commonly agreed definition of a quality standard. This definition will be considered by the National Quality Board at its first meeting in March 2009.
HIV Infection: Blood
Jenny Willott: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 15 January 2009, Official Report, column 962W, on blood: contamination, and with reference to the answer of 25 June 2008, Official Report, columns 362-3W, on HIV infection: blood, what analysis his Department has made of the reasons for the rate of reported deaths of haemophiliacs who contracted HIV as a result of taking contaminated blood products under the NHS between 2007. [251167]
Dawn Primarolo: The Department has not made any analysis of the reasons for the rate of reported deaths of haemophiliacs who contracted HIV as a result of contaminated blood products between 2007 and January 2009.
The figures reported in the answer given on 25 June 2008, Official Report, columns 362-3W (399 haemophiliacs alive in 2007) came from the United Kingdom haemophilia centre doctors’ organisation (UKHCDO). The figures reported in the answer given on 15 January 2009, Official Report, column 962W (345 haemophiliacs alive at the end of 2008), came from the MacFarlane Trust. Neither source can be sure their information is complete and accurate. UKHCDO acknowledge that their figures are likely to be an overestimate, while not all patients will have registered with the MacFarlane Trust.
These figures do not mean that over 40 patients died during the period in question, because the organisations source their data in different ways.
The UKHCDO and the MacFarlane Trust are aware of these discrepancies, and both organisations have agreed to work together in order to try to harmonise relevant data while maintaining strict confidentiality.
Hospitals: Parking
Dr. Kumar: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will direct hospital trusts not to charge for hospital car parking for out-patients. [253423]
Mr. Bradshaw: Car parking arrangements, including charges, are a matter for individual national health service bodies, based on their own local circumstances. However, guidance from the Department to support trusts in implementing parking policies, issued in December 2006, strongly recommends NHS bodies to provide free or discounted car parking to those patients and their relatives or primary visitors who have to use the car park regularly. The Department reminded NHS bodies of this in November 2008.
Hospitals: Standards
Dr. Kumar: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps his Department is taking to increase the quality of hospital care services in all regions. [253126]
Mr. Bradshaw: As part of the NHS Next Stage Review each strategic health authority published a regional clinical vision. High Quality Care for All sets out that quality should be at the heart of the national health service and sets out a quality framework to enable quality improvement at a local level.
Hospitals: Waiting Lists
Dr. Kumar: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps his Department plans to take to reduce NHS waiting lists in (a) England and (b) Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland constituency. [253113]
Mr. Bradshaw:
From 1 January 2009, the operational delivery standards for the national health service in England are that 95 per cent. of non admitted and 90 per cent. of admitted patients will start treatment
within 18 weeks of referral. These standards allow for patents who choose to wait longer or where it is clinically appropriate for patients to wait longer.
At a national level, figures for November 2008, which are the latest available, show the majority of patients are already being seen within 18 weeks of referral. 90 per cent. of patients whose treatment involved admission to hospital started their treatment within 18 weeks and 96 per cent. of patients whose treatment did not involve admission to hospital started their treatment within 18 weeks. The median wait for in-patient treatment has fallen to 8.1 weeks from 18.8 weeks in 1997. November data are available at:
Figures for November 2008, which are the latest available, covering the primary care trusts and NHS trusts within the NHS North East strategic health authority (SHA), which includes the Middlesbrough and Cleveland area are set out in the tables.
Delivery of the 18-week operational standard will reduce unnecessary delays and improve the experience that patients have of elective care and the quality of the service that they receive.
| 18 w eeks monthly RTT collection: November 2008 Commissioner returns—RTT times for completed admitted pathways | |||||||
| SHA | Name | Treatment function code | Treatment function | Total (all) | Total (known clock start) | Total (known clock start) within 18 weeks | Percentage within 18 weeks (column BI /column BH) |
| Notes: 1. Referral to treatment (RTT) times for patients whose 18 week clock stopped during the month with an in-patient/day case admission. 2. It is important to view this performance data in conjunction with the data completeness assessment score for each organisation. | |||||||
| 18 weeks monthly RTT collection: November 2008 Commissioner returns—RTT times for completed admitted pathways | ||||||||
| SHA | Code | Commissioner | Treatment function code | Treatment function | Total (all) | Total (known clock start) | Total (known clock start) within 18 weeks | Percentage with in 18 weeks (column BJ/column BI ) |
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