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25 Mar 2009 : Column 515W—continued
Hospitals: Food
Miss McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what his policy is on assisting hospital patients to eat at mealtimes; and what his policy is on families being present at patients’ mealtimes to encourage patients to eat; [265599]
(2) what system is in place in the NHS to monitor and observe a hospital patient’s intake of food at mealtimes. [265600]
Ann Keen: A significant contribution to assisting patients to eat at mealtimes is the Protected Mealtimes Initiative (PMI), which was introduced by NHS Estates in partnership with the Royal College of Nursing in 2004, as part of the Better Hospital Food programme. The initiative is now led by the National Patient Safety Agency (NPSA) which has been working with key stakeholders in the development of a toolkit to assist national health service organisations in the implementation of the ‘10 Key Characteristics of Good Nutritional Care’. A factsheet relating to Protected Mealtimes was developed and launched in April 2008 and the NPSA will be launching the complete toolkit later this year.
Policy regarding families being present at patients’ mealtimes is determined by local NHS organisations. Such organisations often establish action plans aimed at improving access to their meal services. A frequently used element of such plans is the ‘red tray scheme’, which identifies to ward staff, those patients at risk of poor nutrition.
Infant Mortality
Derek Twigg: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what recent assessment he has made of the main causes of infant mortality. [263661]
Dawn Primarolo: The most recent assessment of the main causes of infant mortality was set out in the “Review of the Health Inequalities Infant Mortality PSA Target” published in by the Department in 2007. These causes are immaturity related conditions (babies born of less than 37 weeks gestation), congenital anomalies and conditions, and sudden and unexpected deaths in infancy.
A copy of the review has already been placed in the Library.
Miscarriage: Alcoholic Drinks
Norman Lamb: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many alcohol-related miscarriages were recorded in each strategic health authority area in each of the last five years. [265770]
Dawn Primarolo: The following table provides estimates of the number of alcohol-related admissions to hospital for miscarriage. These estimates have been calculated by multiplying the total number of admissions to hospital miscarriages within each age group by the fraction of cases that, according to epidemiological research, can be attributed to alcohol. Additionally, it is important to note that not all miscarriages result in admission to hospital.
NHS Foundation Trusts
Frank Dobson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what criteria Monitor uses to assess applications for foundation status by NHS hospital trusts. [266281]
Mr. Bradshaw: We are informed by the chairman of Monitor (the statutory name of which is the independent regulator of NHS foundation trusts) that a detailed description of the assessment process for NHS foundation trust (NHS FT) applicants is set out in the document ‘Applying for NHS Foundation Trust Status—Guide for Applicants’ (Monitor and the Department of Health, November 2008). A copy of this document has been placed in the Library and is also available from Monitor's website:
Monitor has three main criteria which it applies to all applicants for NHS FT status. The applicant trust must be:
Legally constituted;
Well governed; and
Financially viable.
Monitor's intensive assessment process takes approximately three months. Trusts must submit a wide range of information as evidence to support each category. Monitor reviews all the evidence submitted and conducts interviews with key stakeholders including primary care trusts, strategic health authorities, and the Healthcare Commission. Monitor probes the boards of each applicant trust to examine their capability to operate autonomously by questioning different aspects of their application, examples of which include:
Does the board have arrangements in place for monitoring and continually improving the quality of healthcare provided to its patients?
How is the board assured that it has action plans in place to meet existing targets and national core standards?
Are there clear structures and comprehensive procedures in place for the effective working of the NHS FT board?
Is the board confident that the senior management has the capability to and experience necessary to deliver the strategy set out in its business plan?
NHS: Counselling
Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what professional counselling his Department provides for NHS employees suffering from psychological illness; [266353]
(2) how many members of staff from the NHS were absent from work for at least (a) 30, (b) 50 and (c) 99 days as a result of psychological illness in each of the last five years; [266357]
(3) how many staff have left the NHS as a result of psychological illness in each of the last five years. [266358]
Ann Keen: National health service employees are employed by individual NHS bodies such as NHS trusts and NHS foundation trusts. These autonomous employers have a legal responsibility for ensuring the health and well-being of their staff. This includes providing any appropriate professional counselling or other occupational health support to employees with psychological or mental health problems.
Specific guidance on this was issued to the service by NHS Employers (part of the NHS Confederation), in line with the Department's policy, in “The healthy workplaces handbook in 2007”.
The broad responsibility is underscored within the recently published NHS Constitution which includes a pledge to staff that “The NHS commits to provide support and opportunities for staff to maintain their health, well-being and safety”.
On the numbers of staff absent on the grounds of psychological illness and leaving the NHS as a result of psychological illness, the information requested is not available centrally. However, the number of people granted ill-health retirement from the NHS in the last five years is shown in the following table together with the numbers of acceptances for ill-health retirement on psychiatric grounds.
| Year ending 31 March | Total number of ill health retirements | Number of acceptances for ill health retirement on psychiatric grounds |
| Source: NHS Pensions | ||
NHS: Manpower
Mr. Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many full-time equivalent (a) physiotherapists and (b) speech therapists have been working in (i) the NHS in each year since 1997 and (ii) each NHS organisation in the last three years. [265542]
Ann Keen: The number of physiotherapists and speech therapists employed in the national health service in the years requested has been placed in the Library.
NHS: Working Hours
Norman Lamb: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) how much has been allocated by his Department to ensure compliance with the European Working Time Directive in the NHS; [265761]
(2) what guidelines his Department has provided to primary care trusts on the use of funding for compliance with the European Working Time Directive; [265762]
(3) how much money has been allocated by his Department to each primary care trust to aid compliance with the European Working Time Directive. [265763]
Ann Keen: The Department is making a total of £310 million available by 2009-10 to support the European Working Time Directive implementation in recurrent primary care trust (PCT) allocations.
In 2008-09 £110 million was included in the quantum allocation funding that resulted in all PCTs receiving revenue growth of 5.5 per cent. This is recurrent in PCT baselines going into 2009-10.
In 2009-10, a further £2 million has been included in PCT revenue allocations that continue to grow by an average of 5.5 per cent. This is recurrent funding. Of this we expect £150 million to flow through tariff income to trusts as we have incorporated this sum into 2009-10 uplift applied to all tariff prices.
The remaining £50 million in PCT allocations will be targeted to trusts according to strategic health authority (SHA) direction and is intended to support trained doctor solutions particularly in paediatrics and obstetrics services.
SHAs are making clear to the boards of their PCTs and relevant trusts that £310 million has been made available recurrently and how it should be moved around the system in 2009-10.
The funding should be targeted to services only where they meet one or more of the following conditions:
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