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24 Feb 2009 : Column 658W—continued
Measles
Dr. Kumar: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps his Department is taking to reduce the incidence of measles in (a) England, (b) the North East, (c) Teesside and (d) Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland constituency. [257540]
Dawn Primarolo: The way to reduce the number of confirmed cases of measles recorded each year is to increase the number of children vaccinated with the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine.
In addition to the routine MMR vaccination programme, on 6 August 2008 the Department launched a national MMR vaccine catch-up campaign. The aim of the campaign is to immunise all children between one and 18 years of age who are unvaccinated or only partially vaccinated with MMR vaccine.
To support the campaign the Department has provided extra funding to primary care trusts (PCTs) with PCTs outside London having their funding limits increased by £30,000 and London PCTs’ funding limits increased by £60,000. The Department has also sourced additional supplies of vaccine, provided technical support to general practitioners to help them identify children who have not received the MMR vaccine and provided additional online reports to PCTs to help them monitor the effectiveness of their catch-up programmes. The Department has also sent all general practitioner surgeries new measles leaflets and posters.
The Department has held meetings with both strategic health authorities and PCT immunisation co-ordinators, regional directors of public health and directors of performance to emphasise the importance of reducing measles cases through improving vaccination uptake.
A public relations campaign will be rolled out from March 2009. Key messages will include how serious and infectious measles is and how it's never too late to have the MMR vaccine.
Middlesbrough PCT, Redcar and Cleveland PCT and Stockton-on Tees Teaching PCT are implementing the national MMR vaccine catch-up campaign and have three key strategies:
a local service level agreement with GPs to help with the catch-up plan especially with pre-school age children;
sending a letter to all parents of school leavers offering an MMR vaccine booster for those who have not received two MMR vaccine doses; and
a local radio advertising campaign promoting MMR vaccinations.
Meat Hygiene Service: Inspections
Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the cost of inspections carried out by the Meat Hygiene Service was in each year since 1997. [257671]
Dawn Primarolo: The Meat Hygiene Service (MHS) undertakes not just inspection activities in abattoirs but also programmes for other Government Departments such as the Department for the Environment Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) for animal health and welfare purposes. The gross cost of the MHS and the proportion of that cost, including administrative and managerial support costs that relates to inspection, is shown in the following table.
The cost of inspection is estimated at:
| £ million | ||||||||||||
| 1996-97 | 1997-98 | 1998-99 | 1999-2000 | 2000-01 | 2001-02 | 2002-03 | 2003-04 | 2004-05 | 2005-06 | 2006-07 | 2007-08 | |
Mental Health Services
Mr. Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health with reference to the tariff uplift breakdown for 2009-10, published by his Department on 5 February 2009, when he plans to develop a tariff for mental health services. [257643]
Mr. Bradshaw: A programme of work is underway to develop and make available for use national contract 'currencies' for mental health activity by 2010-11. This is in line with the commitment made in High Quality Care for All - NHS Next Stage Review Final Report (Department of Health, June 2008), which has already been placed in the Library.
The currencies being developed will allow national comparison and benchmarking. Once they are in place, they will facilitate an informed decision on whether to introduce a national tariff for mental health services. Therefore, no date has yet been set for the introduction of a tariff for mental health services.
NHS Hospital Foundation Trusts
Mr. Gordon Prentice: To ask the Secretary of State for Health which applications for NHS Hospital Foundation Trust status have been deferred from the initial date for consideration. [257454]
Mr. Bradshaw: The decision to authorise an NHS foundation trust (NHS FT) is made by the Board of Monitor. An authorisation decision may be deferred if the issues preventing a successful application are likely to be resolved or addressed within a reasonable period of time.
I am informed by the chairman of Monitor (the statutory name of which is the independent regulator of NHS FTs) that a total of 19 applications for NHS FT status have been deferred, of which 13 were subsequently authorised, three are currently under assessment, two have withdrawn and one is awaiting reactivation.
| Trust | Deferred | Proposed authorisation date | Current Status | Subsequent authorisation date, if authorised |
NHS Negligence
Mr. Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 2 February 2009, Official Report, column 938W, on NHS negligence, how much of the total premium for 2009-10 will be collected (a) from each NHS trust and (b) in respect of each type of claim. [257741]
Ann Keen: We do not know how much will be collected from individual national health service trusts because the NHS Litigation Authority (NHSLA) is still in the process of calculating actual contributions. Risk management assessments, which can discount an individual member's contribution, are still being carried out. Data on actual amounts collected will be available after 1 April 2009.
In respect of each type of claim, the NHSLA have supplied the following table. This shows the breakdown of the estimated global contribution of £713 million for 2009-10 by the NHSLA's risk categories that claims fall into.
| (£) | |
| Risk Category | Total contribution |
| (1) These cover a range of over 100 specific risk categories | |
NHS Plus
Mr. Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health which NHS occupational health departments were members of NHS Plus in (a) 2006, (b) 2007 and (c) 2008. [249271]
Ann Keen: There are 112 NHS Plus providers as at the end of 2008 and there were 104 in 2007. A list for both years has been placed in the Library. We do not have the information for 2006.
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