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24 Feb 2009 : Column 642W—continued
This publication has already been placed in the Library.
Dental Services: Durham
Dr. Blackman-Woods: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what recent assessment he has made of levels of access to NHS dentistry services in the City of Durham. [257981]
Ann Keen: The number of patients seen in the previous 24 months in England, as at quarterly intervals, from 31 March 2006 to 30 June 2008 is available in table D3 of annex 3 of the “NHS Dental Statistics, Quarter 1: 30 June 2008” report. Information is provided by primary care trust and by strategic health authority.
This information is based on the new dental contractual arrangements, introduced on 1 April 2006. This report, published on 27 November 2008, has already been placed in the Library and is also available on the NHS Information Centre website at:
Dental Services: York
Hugh Bayley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many NHS dentists there were with practices in City of York constituency in each of the last 15 years. [257978]
Ann Keen:
The numbers of national health service dentists, as at 31 March, 1997 to 2006 are available in annex E of the “NHS Dental Activity and Workforce Report England: 31 March 2006”. Information is available by strategic health authority (SHA) and by primary care trust (PCT). Annex G contains information by
parliamentary constituency. Validated information is not available for earlier years.
This measure counted the number of NHS dentists recorded on PCT lists as at 31 March each year. This information is based on the old contractual arrangements, which were in place up to and including 31 March 2006. This report, published on 23 August 2006, has already been placed in the Library and is also available on the NHS Information Centre website at:
The numbers of dentists with NHS activity during the years ending 31 March, 2007 and 2008 are available in table G1 of annex 3 of the “NHS Dental Statistics for England: 2007/08” report. Information is provided by SHA and by PCT but is not available by constituency. This information is based on the new dental contractual arrangements, introduced on 1 April 2006. This report, published on 21 August 2008, has already been placed in the Library and is also available on the NHS Information Centre website at:
Following a recent consultation exercise, this measure is based on a revised methodology and therefore supersedes previously published workforce figures relating to the new dental contractual arrangements. It is not comparable to the information collected under the old contractual arrangements. This revised methodology counted the number of dental performers with NHS activity recorded via FP17 claim forms in each year ending 31 March.
Further work is currently being undertaken to determine whether the new definition used under the new dental contractual arrangements can be applied to the years under the old contractual arrangements to produce a consistent time series.
Both sets of published figures relate to headcounts and do not differentiate between full-time and part-time dentists, nor do they account for the fact that some dentists may do more NHS work than others.
Hugh Bayley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people from City of York constituency there were on the lists of NHS dentists in City of York constituency in each of the last 15 years. [257979]
Ann Keen: Information is not available for years prior to 1997.
The number of patients registered with an national health service (NHS) dentist, in England, as at 31 March, 1997 to 2006 is available in annex A of the “NHS Dental Activity and Workforce Report, England: 31 March 2006”. Information is provided by primary care trust (PCT) and by strategic health authority (SHA). Annex C contains information by parliamentary constituency.
This information is based on the old contractual arrangements that were in place up to and including 31 March 2006. This report, published on 23 August 2006, has already been placed in the Library and is also available on the NHS Information Centre website at:
Under the new dental contractual arrangements, introduced on 1 April 2006, patients do not have to be registered with an NHS dentist to receive NHS care.
The closest equivalent measure to ‘registration’ is the number of patients receiving NHS dental services, ‘patients seen’ over a 24-month period. However, this is not directly comparable to the registration data for earlier years.
The number of patients seen in the previous 24 months in England, as at quarterly intervals, from 31 March 2006 to 30 June 2008 is available in table D3 of annex 3 of the “NHS Dental Statistics, Quarter 1: 30 June 2008” report. Information is provided by PCT and SHA but is not available by constituency.
This report, published on 27 November 2008, has already been placed in the Library and is also available on the NHS Information Centre website at:
Departmental Buildings
Greg Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will place in the Library a copy of the (a) display energy certificates and (b) advisory reports for public buildings issued in respect of each property occupied by (i) his Department and (ii) its agencies. [256049]
Mr. Bradshaw: The Department will place in the Library a copy of the display energy certificates and their associated advisory reports in respect of each property occupied by the Department and its agencies.
Departmental Pay
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much his Department has allocated for staff bonuses in 2008-09. [252247]
Mr. Bradshaw: The Department total paybill for 2008-09 is forecast to be £140 million of which 1.3 per cent. has been used for non-consolidated performance payments to staff. The median payment made was £536.
All non-consolidated performance payments are funded within existing pay bill controls, have to be re-earned each year against pre-determined targets and, as such, do not add to future pay bill costs. The purpose of such payments is to ensure that those staff making the greatest contribution to the work of the Department are suitably rewarded.
For grades below the Senior Civil Service, 2008-09 is the first year that non-consolidated performance payments have been made. For the Senior Civil Service, the size of the non-consolidated performance pay pot is based on recommendations by the independent Senior Salaries Review Body.
Departmental Travel
Mr. Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much Lord Crisp has claimed in travel expenses in the course of producing his report on global health. [256554]
Mr. Bradshaw:
According to departmental records, Lord Crisp undertook international travel to the following countries between May 2006 and November 2006 to inform his ‘Global Health Partnerships’ report: South
Africa, Malawi, Ethiopia, India, Ghana, USA and Switzerland. For this he claimed £12,600 in travel and subsistence.
Drugs: Counterfeit Manufacturing
Mr. Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) when the Medicines and Healthcare Regulatory Agency’s 24-hour anti-counterfeiting hotline was established; how much it cost to run in the last 12 months; how many calls it has received since its inception; and how many of these have led to the discovery each year of counterfeit drugs; [256556]
(2) what assessment of the risk from counterfeit medicines and devices the Medicines and Healthcare Regulatory Agency has made in each of the last 12 months; [256557]
(3) how many instances of counterfeit medicines or devices in the supply chain have been discovered in each of the last four years; [256707]
(4) what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of his Department’s anti-counterfeiting strategy. [256708]
Dawn Primarolo: The supply of counterfeit medicines is a growing problem worldwide and one which the Government are taking very seriously.
The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) has therefore introduced a 24-hour anti-counterfeiting hotline in November 2007 as part of the Agency’s Anti-Counterfeiting strategy. The Strategy was launched in November 2007. It sets out a three year plan and contains a commitment to audit activities carried out under it. A review is planned for the end of the three year period. The cost of the designated telephone is currently £65.00 per quarter, which is met from the Agency’s overall telecommunications budget and it is manned by MHRA personnel as part of their normal duties. To date, 64 reports have been received (via e-mail, website, telephone and letter). All were responded to and none have proved to be counterfeit.
The MHRA has analysed in detail all of the cases of counterfeit medicines which have been discovered in the United Kingdom supply chain. This study has also contributed to the European Commission’s proposals to tackle counterfeit medicines which are currently subject to public consultation. It has also contributed to a comprehensive review of the UK supply chain which has also been released for public consultation.
A ‘watch list’ of counterfeit medicines and medical devices which may appear in the supply chain has been established and circulated to Customs, police and other regulators to be aware of, and to deal with, potential threats.
The number of instances that counterfeit medicines and Devices have been found in the supply chain in each of the last four years is in the following table. The figures given are for every individual instance and may feature the same type of medicine or medical device on more than one occasion.
| Medicines | Devices | |
There have been no reports of counterfeit medicines discovered in the regulated supply chain since May 2007.
Eating Disorders
Helen Southworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps he is taking to ensure there is appropriate treatment and support available for individuals who have an eating disorder. [258198]
Phil Hope: We take the issue of eating disorders, especially among young people, seriously. This is why the Department asked the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence to produce clinical guidelines on core interventions in the treatment and management of anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa and related eating disorders. This guidance was published in 2004.
The Department currently supports the eating disorder charity, beat, through direct funding worth £131,000 over three years, 2006-09. Since 2001-02, real terms investment in adult mental health services increased by 44 per cent., almost £1.7 billion, putting in place the services and staff needed to transform mental health services. The national health service (NHS) spent £5.53 billion on these services in 2007-08, with real term investment increasing by 3.74 per cent. between 2006 to 2007 and 2007 to 2008.
We have thus made very substantial resources available to the NHS from which to provide treatments and services for the population. However, the responsibility for the provision of all NHS services, including the provision of support and treatment for eating disorders, rests with primary care trusts.
Emergency Services
Dr. Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the average (a) cost and (b) number of staff in an emergency operations centre is. [257696]
Mr. Bradshaw: This information is not collected centrally. Arrangements for ambulance service operations centres are a matter for the local national health service. The hon. Member may wish to approach his local NHS organisations for further information.
General Practitioners: Wirral
Stephen Hesford: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many complaints the Healthcare Commission has received on GP services in Wirral West constituency in the last five years. [256838]
Ann Keen: The information requested is not collected centrally. However, this information can be obtained direct from the Healthcare Commission.
Genetics: Data Protection
Mr. Stephen O'Brien:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the evidence of his Department’s chief scientific adviser to the House of Lords Science and Technology Committee on 21 January 2009, when his Department first considered the inclusion of DNA information on the NHS care record; what consideration has been given to the use of
DNA information on the care record for patient identification; what discussions there have been in his Department on the form in which the care record service could hold such information; and what estimate he has made of the date by which the DNA of the majority of individuals will be held on the care record. [256714]
Mr. Bradshaw: Decisions about the necessity and relevance of recording particular information, including data relating to the patient’s DNA, on health records, whether those held within the NHS care records service (NHS CRS) or elsewhere, is a matter for individual clinicians.
Access to health records is only permitted to clinical staff who have a legitimate relationship with the patient for which consent may be implied, for example because they are providing NHS health care or treatment, or who have express consent from the patient for other reasons, for example clinical research.
Within the NHS CRS, both detailed care records and summary care records, for those who choose to have one, will potentially be updated each time patients receive NHS care, and for obvious reasons the precise information held will differ from patient to patient.
Health and Social Care
Jeremy Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans he has to improve the coordination of assessments carried out by those in the health and social care sectors; and if he will make a statement. [257437]
Phil Hope: A consultation published on 22 January and running to 17 April 2009 details proposals to improve information sharing around assessments and care and support planning. The Common Assessment Framework for Adults will look to enable the sharing of information, with the consent of the individual, between health, social care and wider community support services. A report of responses to the consultation will be published in the summer 2009, and the comments received are being used to inform the practical approaches being tested and evaluated over the next three years in nine local authority led partnerships.
Health and Social Care: Elderly
Mr. Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Health for what reasons real terms social care expenditure on older people has fallen, as reported in his Department’s report Personal Social Services Expenditure and Unit Costs England, 2007-08. [258174]
Phil Hope: The data published by the NHS Information Centre on adult personal social services expenditure and unit costs, England, 2007-08, set out expenditure as reported by councils on personal social services and does not record the reasons for changes in expenditure. A copy of the publication has been placed in the Library. Expenditure on personal social services is a matter for each individual council and local discretion, through engagement with their democratically accountable members and the public, in order to deliver services that meet local needs and pressures.
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