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5 Mar 2009 : Column 1760W—continued
Health
Alcoholic Drinks: Young People
Mr. Willetts: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many 18 to 21 year-olds were admitted to each (a) hospital and (b) university hospital following alcohol-related incidents in each of the last 10 years. [260920]
Dawn Primarolo: Data on the number of alcohol-related finished hospital admissions in England for 18 to 21-year-olds has been placed in the Library.
Data is only available from 2002-03 to 2006-07 and that data for admitted patients for 2007-08 has not yet been released but should be available next month. The Department will arrange for the information to be placed in the Library.
Ambulance Services: East of England
Dr. Gibson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate he has made of the average time taken by an ambulance in the East Anglia Ambulance Service to travel from the scene of an incident to hospital in each of the last five years. [259871]
Mr. Bradshaw: The information requested is not collected centrally.
Data on performance against ambulance response time targets, which measure the amount of time before the ambulance reaches the scene of the incident, is published annually by the NHS Information Centre in the statistical bulletin Ambulance Services England. The latest bulletin, “Ambulance Services, England 2007-08”, has already been placed in the Library and is available at the following link:
Arthritis: Health Services
Bob Russell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether he plans to encourage the adoption of individualised care plans to provide social, psychological and lifestyle advice and clinical support for patients diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis. [260397]
Ann Keen: We have no plans to encourage the adoption of care plans which provide social, psychological and lifestyle advice, this is discretionary.
Successful care planning is person-centred and recognises that the patient's needs will change over time. It may be simple or complex depending on the medical condition and the range of services needed. The care plan is owned by the person, and the relevant multidisciplinary team members need to review it regularly with them.
The care planning process is likely to include an assessment of all immediate and potential future health and social care needs, including housing, transport, benefits, employment, and health promotion issues such as weight management and smoking cessation.
Bob Russell:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans he has to improve (a) education for primary healthcare professionals, (b) diagnostic
procedures and (c) referral times for the treatment and long-term care of patients diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis; and if he will make a statement. [260398]
Ann Keen: We have no plans to develop diagnostic procedures, or referral times for treatment, specifically for those with rheumatoid arthritis. The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence produced guidance on the management of rheumatoid arthritis in adults in February 2009. This guidance includes detailed advice for health professionals on the most appropriate diagnostic tests and investigations, referral to specialist services, and treatment regimes, for patients with this condition.
The development of education for health care professionals is the responsibility of the Royal Colleges.
Care Homes: Fees and Charges
Mr. Winnick: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the written ministerial statement of 27 January 2009, Official Report, columns 15-16WS, on the personal expenses allowance, what level of personal expenses allowance persons in adult social care are entitled to; what plans he has to increase the personal expenses allowance in April; if he will make a provision for a substantial increase; and if he will make a statement. [260902]
Phil Hope: The personal expenses allowance (PEA), which is the minimum amount of a care home resident’s own money he or she must be left with after charges for residential care have been deducted, is currently £21.15 per week. It is raised annually in line with the increase in average earnings to ensure it retains its value. From 6 April, it will increase to £21.90.
As my statement of 27 January 2009, Official Report, columns 15-16WS, made clear, the estimated cost of raising the PEA to £40 a week, for example, is £250 million a year. None of this extra expenditure would increase the availability, choice or quality of care services, or support the transformation of adult social care provision. Focusing finite social care resources on these aims must remain our priority.
In the longer term, the Government are committed to reforming the care and support system. The forthcoming Green Paper on the future of care and support will consider how care should be funded in the future.
Norman Lamb: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much was spent from the public purse on free nursing care for care home residents in each year since 2003. [261491]
Phil Hope: Data on the spending on free nursing care for care home residents are not collected centrally.
Clinical Physiologists: Regulation
Mr. Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what measures are in place to regulate the operation of clinical physiologists. [260984]
Mr. Bradshaw:
Proposals for the statutory regulation of clinical physiologists will be resolved as part of a separate consultation, as outlined in “The Future of the Healthcare Science Workforce Modernising Scientific
Careers: The Next Steps: A Consultation” published in November 2008. A copy has already been placed in the Library.
Plans for a separate consultation on proposals for regulation, will be announced in due course.
Dementia
Mr. Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 24 February 2009, Official Report, column 640W, on dementia, where the pilot will take place; how much his Department will spend on the pilot; how many advisers will be employed to work on the pilot; by what process such advisers will be recruited; what qualifications he expects such advisers to hold; and how the outcomes of the pilot will be evaluated. [260834]
Phil Hope: The Department has allocated £4.5 million to fund demonstration and evaluation of dementia advisers. An announcement about the nature and number of the demonstrator sites will be made in the near future. The Department will commission an evaluation of the demonstrator sites to determine lessons learnt for implementation of the National Dementia Strategy.
Dental Services: Hertfordshire
Mike Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what recent assessment he has made of the provision of NHS dentistry in (a) Hertfordshire and (b) Dacorum. [261211]
Ann Keen: The numbers of courses of treatments (CoTs) and units of dental activity (UDAs) performed by national health service dentists, in England, are available in Table C6 of Annex 3 of the NHS Dental Statistics, Quarter 2: 30 September 2008 report. Information is available for 2006-07 and quarterly since 2007-08. Information is provided by primary care trust (PCT) and strategic health authority (SHA).
This report, published on 26 February 2009, has been placed in the Library and is also available on the NHS Information Centre website at:
Information for the first two quarters of 2008-09 remain provisional as they are revised in each subsequent report to account for treatments reported too late for inclusion in the previous quarterly report. In the end of year report, published in the August following the end of the financial year, all quarterly activity data are revised for a final time.
Further information about CoTs and UDAs is contained in the above report.
The numbers of dentists with NHS activity during the years ending 31 March, 2007 and 2008 are available in Table Gl of Annex 3 of the NHS Dental Statistics for England: 2007-08 report. Information is provided by PCT and SHA. 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, introduced on
1 April 2006. 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.
Workforce 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.
Information in both reports is based on the PCT boundaries which came into effect on 1 October 2006.
Departmental Scientists
Ian Stewart: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what his Department's budget for scientific advice and research is in 2008-09; for what purposes the equivalent budget for 2007-08 was used; and how many people employed in his Department have a science or engineering degree. [260766]
Dawn Primarolo: The Department's research and development budget for the national health service for 2008-09 is £792 million and for its policy research programme is £33 million. The Department has no separately identifiable budget attributable to scientific advice.
The NHS research and development budget provides the means of delivery of the Government's health research strategy and in 2007-08 was in part used to support the work of the National Institute for Health Research and in part allocated to NHS trusts. The policy research programme provides the evidence base for policy development and for the evaluation of policy implementation in health and social care.
The Department does not collate data on the type of academic qualifications held by its staff.
Disabled: Expenditure
Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much has been spent from the public purse on (a) the Supporting People Fund, (b) continuing health care, (c) independent living funds, (d) the disabilities facilities grant, (e) funding under section 256 of the National Health Service Act 2006, (f) funding under section 28A of the National Health Service Act 1997, (g) disability support transport and (h) other disability support services in each year since 1997. [260535]
Phil Hope: ‘Continuing health and social care' is a package of care that involves services from both the national health service and social care and based on an individual's assessed healthcare (mental or physical) needs. The amount that has been spent in this area alone is not collected centrally.
To calculate the amount of public funding that has gone to fund projects and initiatives under section 256 of the National Health Service Act 2006, section 28A of the National Health Service Act 1997, disability support (for) transport and other disability support services in each year since 1997 would incur disproportionate costs as the information is not collected centrally.
Drugs: Rehabilitation
Anne Milton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what treatment centres for alcohol and drug misuse there are in England. [260416]
Dawn Primarolo: A centrally-held record exists only for those agencies which report to the national drug treatment monitoring system which includes the national Alcohol Treatment Monitoring System. There is known to be an element of under-reporting. The agencies are listed by locality at:
Mike Wood: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what the average waiting time for a methadone prescription was in each primary care trust in England in the last 12 months; [260856]
(2) what the average waiting time was for referral of a drug user for residential treatment in each primary care trust in England in the last 12 months. [260857]
Dawn Primarolo: The National Treatment Agency for Substance Misuse collects data on waiting times via the national drug treatment monitoring system. These data are collected in the form of the percentage of people who waited under and over three weeks to access a particular drug treatment intervention.
A table giving average waiting times figures for specialist and general practitioner prescribing, in-patient treatment and residential rehabilitation, as a first and subsequent intervention for each local drug partnership in England has been placed in the Library.
Economic Situation
Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what (a) summits, (b) conferences and (c) seminars his Department has hosted since January 2008 at which a primary subject for discussion was the impact of the economic situation on matters within his Department's responsibility. [260150]
Mr. Bradshaw: The Department routinely considers the impact of the economic situation on health and social care and engages on this with a range of organisations including the national health service and other Government departments as appropriate.
Responding to the economic situation is a priority for the Government. Summits, conferences and seminars are some of the methods used to engage stakeholders in this work and ensure action is coordinated and effective.
Food: Jersey
Dr. Iddon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what discussions officials from the Food Standards Agency have had with officials in Jersey on the implications of the review of the Jersey food hygiene law for foodstuffs exported from Jersey to the UK; and when they expect the review to be completed. [261013]
Dawn Primarolo: The Food Standards Agency has not had any discussions with officials in Jersey regarding their review of their food hygiene legislation.
General Practitioners
Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what data his Department collects on the number of (a) requests for house calls by GPs and (b) house calls made by GPs. [258673]
Mr. Bradshaw: The Department does not routinely collect the information requested. Copies of studies commissioned by the Department on changing workload patterns for general practice have been placed in the Library.
Health Services: Republic of Ireland
Mr. Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 23 February 2009, Official Report, columns 216-17W, on health services: Republic of Ireland, which aspects of the claims process prevent determining whether previous payments the Government has made to the Republic of Ireland were overpayments. [260830]
Dawn Primarolo: Under the terms of the bilateral agreement, the United Kingdom makes payments to the Republic of Ireland based on average costs. This is in line with European Union regulations. As calculating average costs and having them agreed in Brussels is a lengthy process, the UK makes payments based on estimates until the process is complete. Until average costs for previous years are formally agreed and current bilateral discussions are completed, it is not possible to establish whether any previous payments the UK has made, represent overpayments.
Mr. Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 23 February 2009, Official Report, columns 216-17W, on health services: Republic of Ireland, when bilateral discussions started; and when they will be completed. [260831]
Dawn Primarolo: Bilateral discussions between the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland have been ongoing over the last two years. It is hoped that agreement on the substantive points of discussion will be reached before the end of this year.
Mr. Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 23 February 2009, Official Report, columns 216-17W, on health services: Republic of Ireland, what the new evidence which has come to light on payments to be made under the agreement is. [260833]
Dawn Primarolo: Under the terms of the bilateral agreement, the United Kingdom makes payments for a number of pensioners in the Republic of Ireland. Part of the bilateral discussions have been about effectively managing demographic changes. For example, due to changes in working history, far more people have an entitlement to an Irish pension. This results in a shift in the liability for healthcare costs.
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