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19 Jun 2009 : Column 527W—continued
Technical issues relating to the coding of incidents in the HSE’s database mean that there are some data discontinuities. A change during 2003-04 caused an artificial fall in that year in the number of injury reports coded to education and that affects the data series to 2006-07. A subsequent adjustment to the database from the start of 2007-08—to bring about a closer alignment with data prior to 2003-04—has introduced a further discontinuity. HSE statisticians are working to redress these known issues.
Cancer: Males
Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much his Department plans to spend on increasing awareness of cancers affecting men; and if he will make a statement. [280671]
Ann Keen: Work to improve cancer symptom awareness and encourage earlier presentation across all cancers, including male cancers, is being taken forward through the National Awareness and Early Diagnosis Initiative, formally launched in November 2008.
In the last 12 months, the following funding has been awarded to organisations to raise awareness of male cancers specifically at a national level:
As part of the National Awareness and Early Diagnosis Initiative's promoting earlier presentation work stream, the Department and the Football Foundation are joint funding the Ahead of the Game programme. Ahead of the Game is a one-year pilot programme that will use the appeal of football to raise awareness of lung, bowel and prostate cancers in men aged 55 and over. The Department has awarded £50,000 for 2009-10, which builds on the £36,000 awarded for this purpose in 2008-09.
The Men's Health Forum has been awarded funding of £45,000 for 2009-10 for its project on increasing bowel screening uptake in men. This forms part of the £135,000 that the charity has received for this purpose over the past three years. In addition, the Men's Health Forum will receive a one year grant of £26,000 in 2009-10 to update its Mini Manual for Men's Cancer.
Colorectal Cancer: Screening
Mr. Greg Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the NHS bowel cancer screening programme; and if he will assess the merits of extending it to people between the ages of 50 and 59 years old. [281315]
Ann Keen: We are currently rolling out the NHS bowel screening programme across England. Roll-out commenced in April 2006 and full roll-out across the country is on course to be completed by the end of 2009. When fully implemented, around two million men and women will be screened, and around 3,000 cases of bowel cancer detected every year.
As at 4 May 2009, 3,411,763 testing kits had been sent out with 1,955,831 kits having been returned; there had been 34,455 positive results with 3,063 cancers having been detected; and 11,474 patients had polyps removed, which might have progressed to bowel cancer.
From 2010, the NHS bowel cancer screening programme will be extended to men and women aged 70 to 75. By the end of 2010, we will assess whether or not to extend the programme to people in their 50s.
Based on the promising results of a large Cancer UK-funded clinical trial on the use of flexible sigmoidoscopy (FS) in bowel screening, we are funding a £300,000 demonstration study of screening by FS being run by St. Mark's Hospital, London. The pilot is inviting men and women aged 58 to be screened, and it is expected to report later in 2009. The results from the FS pilot will be considered when we assess whether or not to extend the bowel screening programme to people in their 50s.
Departmental Energy
Gregory Barker: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much (a) electricity and (b) gas was used (i) on his Department's estate and (ii) by his Department's agencies in each year from 2004-05 to 2008-09. [280510]
Phil Hope: The Department and its executive agencies NHS Purchasing and Supply Agency (PASA) and Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) have used the following amounts:
| Usage (KWh) | |||
| Department | NHS PASA | MHRA | |
The MHRA are unable to provide electricity information for 2004-07 as the information as the data are not available from their landlord.
These figures are based on actual usage of fuel over the period and differ slightly from the figures submitted as part of the Sustainable Development in Government (SDiG) reporting process, as some buildings were excluded from this exercise. SDiG figures are also weather corrected data.
The information in this answer covers the Department's central administrative estate of Richmond House, Wellington House and Skipton House. The Department is a minor occupier in New Kings Beam House (HM Revenue and Customs) and Quarry House in Leeds (Department of Work and Pensions) and the data for these sites are not available to us. Reductions in 2005-06 and 2006-07 are due to the closure of two London buildings—Eileen House and Hannibal House.
The data supplied for NHS PASA relate to energy used at their Reading, Chester and Sheffield sites.
Gregory Barker: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much was spent on energy efficiency measures for his Department's estate in each year from 2004 to 2009; what assessment has been made of the effectiveness of that expenditure; and what plans he has for future energy efficiency measures. [280544]
Phil Hope: The Department is unable to identify how much has been spent specifically on energy efficiency measures as these have been an integral part of our ongoing building maintenance work.
This Department supports and aims to meet the Government's targets to reduce carbon emissions and improve the energy efficiency of the Government estate. While we have increased the efficiency (measured as consumption per m(2)) of our gas usage, our energy consumption has increased over the period, due largely to our policy of closing buildings and concentrating more staff in our remaining estate.
The changes in energy efficiency of our buildings (measured in kWh per m(2)) since 1999-2000, which is the earliest year for which figures are available, are:
| Percentage change (+/-) | ||
| 2007-08 | 2006-07 | |
We have been working with the Carbon Trust over the past two years to identify energy saving measures, and this has been reflected in an improvement in our performance on energy efficiency in 2007-08, compared with 2006-07. We have a number of further initiatives planned, which should improve these figures further in the coming year. This includes upgrading our building management systems and improving the automatic lighting systems in our core London estate and the replacement of boiler plant in two of these buildings.
Domestic Violence
Mrs. May: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the (a) full terms of reference are and (b) membership is of the health taskforce to spot signs of violence against women announced on 14 May 2009. [281460]
Ann Keen: This is currently under consideration.
Malnutrition: Screening
Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps his Department has taken to promote incentives for nutritional screening in (a) payment by results and (b) community tariff payments in primary care. [280494]
Mr. Mike O'Brien: No steps have been taken by the Department to promote incentives for nutritional screening in the payment by results national tariff or in community services.
There are no specific admitted patient care or outpatient attendance tariffs for nutritional screening, but the costs of this activity are captured in the reference costs which are collected from national health service organisations, and which inform tariff prices. Most community services are outside the scope of payment by results and are funded through block contracts.
Measles: Vaccination
Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what proportion of children aged six years and under in (a) Essex and (b) Castle Point have been inoculated against measles. [280455]
Gillian Merron: Information of the percentage of children immunised against measles, mumps and rubella by their fifth birthday by primary care trust is contained in NHS Immunisation Statistics, England 2007-08, which has already been placed in the Library. Information for the hon. Member's constituency is not available.
Midwives
Harry Cohen: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many midwifery training places were commissioned for the 2008-09 academic year. [281125]
Ann Keen: Strategic health authorities are responsible for allocating resources from education and training funding to support local initiatives for their staff. The latest figures available are for 2007-08, the figures for 2008-09 are still being collated and validated.
| Actual | Planned | |
MRSA: Milton Keynes
Mr. Lancaster: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many cases of MRSA infection in Milton Keynes have been reported to his Department in each year since 1997. [280876]
Ann Keen: Since April 2001, all acute national health service trusts in England are obliged to report all cases of bloodstream infections caused by methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA).
These data comprise all specimens processed by NHS acute trust laboratories, not just those from in-patients and include infections acquired in hospital and elsewhere. These data are only available by financial year.
| Milton Keynes General Hospital NHS Trust | |
| April to March each year | Number of cases of bloodstream infections caused by MRSA |
Nutrition: Health Services
Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps the National Patient Safety Agency is taking to improve (a) patient nutrition and (b) reporting of nutrition-related incidents involving patients. [280486]
Ann Keen: The National Patient Safety Agency (NPSA) is working with a range of stakeholders including the Department, Welsh Assembly Government, Royal Colleges, professional organisations, and industry to improve patient nutrition.
In April 2009, the NPSA launched the “10 Key Characteristics of Good Nutritional Care” toolkit to assist health and social care providers in the implementation
of the good practice. The NPSA has also worked actively with regulators on the development of inspection criteria and guidance for nutrition.
The NPSA has held five workshops between January and March 2009 to engage with primary care organisations and supports the delivery of the Royal College of Nursing “Nutrition Now” workshops. The NPSA has recently part-funded the development of an e-based learning programme related to dysphagia management in partnership with the NHS Core Learning Unit. This includes working with the food industry to improve the quality of texture-modified meals.
In May 2009 the NPSA published an overview of what has been learnt from an analysis of nutrition-related patient safety incidents reported as occurring in England during 2006 and 2007. Data for 2008 are currently under review.
Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate his Department has made of the proportion of GPs who screen patients upon their first registration in line with the recommendations of the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence’s guidelines on Nutrition Support in Adults. [280490]
Gillian Merron: This information is not held centrally.
Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what discussions his Department has had with the UK Commission for Employment and Skills on inclusion of nutrition-related training in (a) undergraduate and (b) postgraduate courses for health professionals. [280491]
Ann Keen: The Department is actively working with the Royal Colleges on the further development of their medical specialties curricula to cover public health content, inclusive of lifestyle determinants of health and wellbeing.
National health service staff knowledge and development related to public health is being furthered through a modular approach to learning by the NHS Core Learning Unit. Modules on public health are accessible through induction training and professional development.
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