| Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
21 Apr 2009 : Column 585W—continued
| A t 2008 prices, based on CPI( 1) ( £ ) | |||
| Degree rates | |||
| London | Elsewhere | Parental home | |
| (1) Source: Office for National Statistics. Consumer price index (CPI) taken in April of each year. (2) In 2007 certain allowances were removed from the scheme to make it compliant with age discrimination legislation. Existing students remained on the previous rules and new rates introduced for new entrants. | |||
Occupational Therapy: Manpower
Mr. Greg Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many occupational therapists qualified in each year since 2000; and what estimate he has made of the number of trained therapists required to fill vacancies in occupational therapy services in each of the next three years. [269767]
Ann Keen: It is not possible to identify centrally how many occupational therapists qualified in each year.
No assessment has been made centrally as to the number of occupational therapists required as local national health service organisations are best placed to assess the healthcare needs of their local populations.
Effective workforce planning is about delivering the best possible patient care by ensuring high quality staff with the right skills are in the right place at the right time.
Our approach to reforming the workforce planning, education and training system mirrors the approach for the NHS itself—a belief that quality is best served by devolving decision making as closely as possible to the frontline in an environment of coherence, transparency
and clear accountabilities. Planning must be based on a clear clinical vision built around patient pathways.
Mr. Greg Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many occupational therapists the NHS employs; and how many of them completed their training (a) in the UK and (b) abroad. [269768]
Ann Keen: As at 30 September 2008, there were 17,345 qualified occupational therapy staff employed in the national health service.
It is not possible to identify centrally whether these staff completed their training in the United Kingdom or abroad.
Pharmacy
Mr. Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many prescriptions were issued by (a) nurse independent prescribers, (b) community practitioner nurse prescribers and (c) doctors in each of the last 12 months for which figures are available. [269304]
Ann Keen: The number of prescription items prescribed by nurse independent prescribers, community practitioner nurse prescribers and doctors in England and dispensed in the community in the United Kingdom is shown in the following table.
| Thousand | |||
| Prescription items prescribed by: | |||
| Nurse independent prescribers( 1) | Community practitioner nurse prescribers( 2) | Doctors | |
| (1) Nurses based in practices and primary care trusts who are qualified to prescribe as nurse independent prescribers or nurse supplementary prescribers. (2) Nurses based in practices and primary care trusts who are qualified to prescribe from the nurse prescribers’ formulary for community practitioners. | |||
Radiotherapy: Waiting Lists
Norman Lamb: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the average waiting time for radiotherapy treatment was in the latest period for which figures are available; what targets his Department has set for such waiting times; and if he will make a statement. [269671]
Ann Keen: Average waiting times for cancer patients and average waiting times for specific cancer treatment types are not collected centrally. The cancer waiting time standard of a maximum wait of 31 days, from diagnosis to first cancer treatment for all cancers was introduced from 2005. Performance against this standard in the last period for which data are available (Quarter three 2008-09) was 99.5 per cent.
Scarborough Hospital: Negligence
Mr. Greg Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many successful claims for compensation for medical negligence at Scarborough Hospital were made in (a) 2008 and (b) 2009; how much compensation was paid in each year; and how many claims remain unresolved. [269351]
Ann Keen: The information is not available in the format requested. However, the following table shows the number of closed clinical negligence claims settled 2007-08 and 2008-09 for the Scarborough and North East Yorkshire NHS Trust.
| Settlement year | Status | Number of claims | Damages paid | Defence costs paid | Claimant costs paid |
| Notes: The above dates show when settlement was reached, they not representative of when the incidents occurred or when settlement was received by the claimant. | |||||
The following table shows the number of open clinical negligence claims relating to the Scarborough and North East Yorkshire Healthcare NHS Trust as at 31 March 2009.
| Status | Number of claims | Damages reserve | Defence costs reserve | Claimant costs reserve |
| Source: NHS Litigation Authority | ||||
Social Services: Recruitment
Mr. Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much had been spent on his Department's social care recruitment advertising campaign at the latest date for which figures are available. [269653]
Phil Hope: The advertising spend for the latest social care worker recruitment campaign, which ran from 23 February to 5 April 2009, was £2.1 million.
Strokes
Sir Nicholas Winterton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what guidance his Department issues to acute care units on the emergency classifications of stroke; and if he will make a statement. [268911]
| Next Section | Index | Home Page |