| Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
25 Jun 2009 : Column 1112W—continued
Health
Chiropractic
Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans he has for the implementation of the new National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence guidelines on access to chiropractice. [281360]
Mr. Mike O'Brien: The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) guideline in question is for management of persistent non-specific lower back pain, for which a number of potential treatments are included in the recommendations. To aid implementation of this guideline, NICE has developed tools which offer advice on costings and commissioning, and these are available on their website alongside the main guideline at:
Departmental Food
Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what percentage of the (a) meat, (b) fruit and (c) vegetables procured by his Department in the last 12 months was produced in the UK. [281942]
Phil Hope: The figures for 2008-09 are not yet available.
The proportion of domestically produced food procured by the Department has gone up from 58.5 per cent., in 2006-07 to 74 per cent., in 2007-08.
Quadrant Catering provides the staff restaurant and hospitality catering at the Department of Health sites in London and Eurest Services provides the same services to Department for Work and Pensions, which includes the Quarry House site in Leeds where some Department of Health employees are based. Both Quadrant Catering and Eurest Services are part of Compass Group UK and Ireland, one of the United Kingdom’s largest contract caterers.
Specific information about British products used within the Department of Health and Department for Work and Pensions contracts is listed as follows. This information was made publicly available in late 2008 and there will be another report produced towards the end of 2009.
Two reports have been published by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs on the proportion of domestically produced food used by Government Departments, and supplied to hospitals and prisons under contracts negotiated by NHS supply chain and HM Prison Service, covering the years from 1 April 2007 to 31 March 2008, and the previous year. The latest report (November 2008) and the first one can be found at:
The report gives details of the proportion of individual meat, fruit and vegetable categories purchased. Although
it is too early to demonstrate a trend, the latest report indicates that the amount of domestically produced food consumed by Government Departments in England is increasing. Data for the Department of Health were not included in these reports, but will be included in a third report that is expected to be published at the end of 2009.
Departmental Lost Property
Mr. Blunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many laptop computers belonging to (a) his Department and (b) its agencies have been lost or stolen in the last five years. [281064]
Phil Hope: The following table lists the numbers of laptops reported lost or stolen from the Department and its agencies, Medicines Healthcare products and Regulatory Agency (MHRA) and the NHS Purchasing and Supply Agency (PASA).
| Number | ||||
| Department of Health | MHRA | PASA | Total | |
All the missing departmental and MHRA laptops were encrypted so we have minimised the risk of exposure of sensitive or personal data.
Drugs: Patients
Mark Simmonds: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether he has made an estimate of the number of off-label drug treatments (a) provided and (b) denied to patients in the last 12 months; and if he will make a statement. [282416]
Mr. Mike O'Brien: We have made no such estimate.
General Practitioners
Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what guidance his Department issues to primary care trusts on the application of premises criteria to the designation of general practice surgeries. [281359]
Mr. Mike O'Brien: Directions issued in 2004 contain minimum standards which primary care trusts use when assessing the suitability of existing or proposed alternative premises. All primary medical care contractors have a contractual obligation to provide premises that are:
suitable for the delivery of those services; and
sufficient to meet the reasonable needs of the contractor's patients.
Hospital Beds
Norman Lamb: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many beds in NHS organisations (a) there were and (b) were occupied in each ward type in each of the last five years. [281151]
Mr. Mike O'Brien: The number of occupied and available bed days and day only beds is collected annually, from national health service providers. The following table shows the average daily number of available and occupied beds in wards open overnight by ward classification in England, 2003-04 to 2007-08.
Bed numbers have fallen because hospitals are dealing with patients more efficiently and more people are
treated in primary care settings—experts all agree that this is the best way to deliver health care to patients.
Advances in medical technology and shorter stays for routine operations mean fewer beds are needed across the service—this is part of a long-term downward trend in the average length of stay in hospital.
| Next Section | Index | Home Page |