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9 Mar 2009 : Column 134W—continued
Accident and Emergency Departments: Admissions
Sandra Gidley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many admissions to accident and emergency departments there were in each hospital trust in each day in February 2009. [261663]
Mr. Bradshaw: Information is not available in the format requested. However, information on the number of patients attending accident and emergency (A&E) departments is published quarterly via the Department of Health's QMAE dataset.
A table which shows the number of attendances at major accident and emergency departments, single speciality accident and emergency departments, other types of accident and emergency departments including minor injury and walk in centres for the most recent quarter, has been placed in the Library.
Cancer: Drugs
Dr. Gibson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate he has made of the number of patients diagnosed with renal cell carcinoma who are expected to be suitable for sunitinib as a first-line therapy in the next 12 months, under the terms of the final approval determination issued by the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence. [260885]
Dawn Primarolo:
We have made no such assessment. The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence
(NICE) will publish a costing tool alongside its final guidance on sunitinib (Sutent) for the treatment of advanced or metastatic renal cell carcinoma which will include an assessment of the patient population that will be eligible for treatment under NICE’S final recommendations.
Colorectal Cancer
Mr. Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what recent assessment he has made of his Department's progress in raising awareness of bowel cancer. [261568]
Ann Keen: The results of the first national cancer awareness survey, which will be published in the spring, will provide a baseline assessment of awareness in the general public of the risk factors and symptoms of cancer. From this baseline, we will be able to monitor changes in public awareness and the impact of interventions across all cancers.
Work to improve cancer symptom awareness and encourage earlier presentation across all cancers is being taken forward through the National Awareness and Early Diagnosis Initiative. Through the Improvement Foundation's Healthy Community Collaborative programme, 19 sites across the country are working to raise awareness of lung, breast and bowel cancers in their local communities. The Football Foundation's football pilot will also aim to raise awareness of lung, bowel and prostate cancer in men aged over 55.
Colorectal Cancer: Radiotherapy
Mr. Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the (a) longest and (b) average waiting time was for patients receiving radiotherapy treatment for bowel cancer in (i) Lancashire and (ii) England in 2008; and if he will make a statement. [261570]
Ann Keen: Statistics on average or maximum waiting times for cancer patients and average or maximum waiting times for specific cancer treatments are not collected centrally. The cancer waiting time standard of a maximum wait of 31 days from diagnosis to first cancer treatment was introduced for all cancer patients from December 2005. In the last quarter for which figures are available (October to December 2008), national performance against this standard was 99.5 per cent.
Colorectal Cancer: Screening
Mr. Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) how many people aged over 50 years were screened for bowel cancer in (a) Lancashire and (b) England in 2008; [261569]
(2) how many bowel cancer screening centres are operational in (a) Lancashire and (b) England; and if he will make a statement. [261572]
Ann Keen: The national health service bowel cancer screening programme in England invites men and women aged 60 to 69 to complete a testing kit to be screened for bowel cancer every two years. Men and women aged over 69 are able to self-refer for screening every two years.
In 2008, 67,756 men and women completed a testing kit in Lancashire, and 1,062,270 men and women completed a testing kit in England.
Lancashire is covered by four local bowel cancer screening centres (Bolton, Pennine, Lancashire and Cumbria and Westmorland), all of which are now operational. There are 43 local bowel cancer screening centres are currently operational in England out of a total of the 57 that will be operational once the programme is fully rolled out by December 2009.
Continuing Care
Norman Lamb: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the effect of changes to the rules on eligibility for NHS continuing care introduced in 2007. [261495]
Phil Hope: Since the introduction of the National Framework for NHS Continuing Care on 1 October 2007, which introduced standardised eligibility criteria, the number of those in receipt of continuing care has increased from 27,822 at the end of September 2007 to 40,449 at the end of September 2008.
Departmental Absenteeism
Mr. Scott: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many staff of his Department were recorded absent for non-medical reasons on (a) 2 February 2009 and (b) 3 February 2009; what estimate he has made of the (i) cost to his Department and (ii) number of working hours lost resulting from such absence; and what guidance his Department issued to staff in respect of absence on those days. [260578]
Mr. Bradshaw: The Department did not record centrally the numbers of staff who were absent for non-medical reasons on 2 and 3 February. Many staff were able to work remotely using their existing information technology facilities and capacity was increased to allow more concurrent remote users. With prior agreement with their managers staff were allowed to work from home on both days.
Guidance was issued to managers and staff confirming that those who were working on 2 February could leave work early to avoid the rush hour. It was made clear that every effort should be made by our staff to attend the office on 3 February. Managers also had the discretion to allow credits of flexi time or annual leave considering each case on its merits.
Departmental Ministerial Policy Advisers
Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much has been claimed in reimbursable expenses by special advisers in his Department in 2008-09 to date. [260354]
Mr. Bradshaw: The Secretary of State for Health’s special advisers have claimed £797.62 in reimbursable expenses since January 2008 up to 3 March 2009.
Departmental Official Hospitality
Mr. Rob Wilson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what his Department’s entertainment budget was in each of the last five years. [261106]
Mr. Bradshaw: The Department does not make specific budget provision for entertainment. The Department’s Code of Business Conduct explicitly states that
“Departmental funds should never be used for providing entertainment”.
The Department also does not make specific budget provision for hospitality. The Code of Business Conduct that ‘hospitality’ provided should be modest and necessary for the effective conduct of departmental business.
This is in accordance with the principles of Managing Public Money and the Treasury handbook on Regularity and Propriety.
Mr. Rob Wilson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much his Department spent on (a) alcohol and (b) food in each of the last five years. [261157]
Mr. Bradshaw: The Department does not record expenditure on alcohol. The Department's code of business conduct requires that the “provision of alcohol as an element of hospitality must be limited and reasonable, and that any hospitality provided should be modest and necessary for the effective conduct of Departmental business.” This is in accordance with the principles of the Treasury guidance ‘Managing Public Money’ and the Treasury handbook on Regularity and Propriety.
The Department has expended the following sums on food in the last five years:
| £ | |
Departmental Postal Services
Mr. Gordon Prentice: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many and what percentage of letters sent by his Department were given to (a) the Royal Mail and (b) another postal services provider for delivery in the last 12 months; and if he will make a statement. [259973]
Mr. Bradshaw: All letters issued from the Department's buildings are processed by Royal Mail.
Departmental Public Appointments
Harry Cohen: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what information his Department holds on the number of persons appointed to executive positions in bodies for which his Department has responsibility in the last five years who previously had careers in the banking industry. [261234]
Mr. Bradshaw: Executive appointments to the Department's arm’s-length bodies, and to frontline national health service organisations, are normally made by the chairmen and non-executive directors of the bodies concerned. Accordingly, records of the previous employment of appointees are held locally. They are not collected centrally and to do so would impose a disproportionate burden and cost.
Departmental Public Consultation
Mr. Vara: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many public consultations his Department has conducted in the last 12 months; how long each consultation was open for; how many responses were received in each case; and what the cost of conducting each consultation was. [259573]
Mr. Bradshaw: Between 1 February 2008 and 31 January 2009, the Department launched 48 public consultations. Of these, 39 were open for 12 weeks or longer. The nine public consultations that were open for less than 12 weeks were either technical consultations; for example, the consultation on business case approval guidance for primary care trusts with existing Local Improvement Finance Trusts or were part of a policy development process involving a significant proportion of other stakeholder engagement activities. All of these shortened consultations had ministerial approval.
The Department does not hold information centrally about the numbers of responses received to public consultations, or their costs. This information can be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
Departmental Rail Travel
Mike Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the cost to his Department was of travel by train by its staff in each year since 1997. [261210]
Mr. Bradshaw: Information on train travel by staff of the Department is available only from July 2004. The following table details the yearly expenditure from July 2004 to date, on travel provided under the Department’s centrally managed contract:
| Period | £ |
These figures do not include the costs of train journeys booked by individual members of staff, and claimed as expenses. This information could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
Departmental Surveys
Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much his Department spent on staff surveys in each of the last five years; and which companies were contracted to carry out the surveys. [260144]
Mr. Bradshaw: The Department has run annual staff surveys, in each of the last five years, all of which have been administered by Amey Performance Measurement Group.
| £ | |
| (1) Cost unavailable. To establish this would incur disproportionate cost. | |
In addition during February 2008, the Department carried out a one-off, specific, staff Health and Well-being survey, administered by Robertson Cooper. The cost of this survey was £28,783.
Departmental Training
Mike Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether his Department has provided voice coaching to any of its employees in the last 12 months. [260634]
Mr. Bradshaw: There is no central record available of anyone in the Department having been provided with voice coaching in the past 12 months. However records are not kept centrally of training provided locally by individual directorates. To establish what training, if any, was provided at that level, would incur disproportionate costs.
Eating Disorders
Anne Milton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many (a) children and (b) adults were admitted to hospital for a suspected eating disorder in each of the last five years. [260485]
Phil Hope: Information is not collected on admissions for a suspected eating disorder. The data in the following table cover those who have received a formal diagnosis of anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa and other types of eating disorders including overeating.
| Total admissions( 1) into hospital where there was a primary diagnosis( 2) of eating disorders( 3) for children (0-18 year olds) (b) adults (19 and over) from 2007-08 to 2003-04: Activity in English NHS hospitals and English NHS commissioned activity in the independent sector | ||||
| Total (England) | 18 and under | 19 and over | Unknown | |
| (1) A finished admission episode is the first period of inpatient care under one consultant within one healthcare provider. Finished admission episodes are counted against the year in which the admission episode finishes. Admissions do not represent the number of inpatients, as a person may have more than one admission within the year. (2)( )The primary diagnosis is the first of up to 20 (14 from 2002-03 to 2006-07 and 7 prior to 2002-03) diagnosis fields in the Hospital Episode Statistics (HES) data set and provides the main reason why the patient was admitted to hospital. (3) International Classification of Diseases 10 (ICD) Diagnosis codes for 'Eating disorders'; Anorexia Nervosa; F50.0 Anorexia nervosa F50.1 Atypical anorexia nervosa Bulimia Nervosa; F50.2 Bulimia nervosa F50.3 Atypical bulimia nervosa Other eating disorders; F50.4 Overeating associated with other psychological disturbances F50.5 Vomiting associated with other psychological disturbances F50.8 Other eating disorders F50.9 Eating disorder, unspecified F98.2 Feeding disorder of infancy and childhood F98.3 Pica of infancy and childhood | ||||
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