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7 July 2009 : Column 683W—continued
(1) The definition of manufacturing industry used did not include mining and quarrying, recycling, the collection, purification and distribution of water, and construction.
(2) Kilotonnes of oil equivalent. DUKES uses this unit; 1 tonne oil equivalent = 11.63 MWh.
Sizewell A Power Station
Mr. Weir: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what the cost was of repairing the coolant leak discovered at Sizewell A on 7 June 2007. [280800]
Mr. Kidney: I assume that the hon. Member is referring to the coolant leak at Sizewell A on 7 January 2007 as I am not aware of such an incident at Sizewell A on the 7 June 2007.
The cost of the repair of the coolant leak is a matter for the operating company.
Mr. Weir: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change when his predecessor Department was informed about the coolant leak at Sizewell A discovered on 7 June 2007; and what steps Ministers took following receipt of the information. [280805]
Mr. Kidney: I assume that the hon. Member is referring to the coolant leak at Sizewell A on 7 January 2007 as I am not aware of such an incident at the site on 7 June 2007.
The Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform was informed of the incident on 7 January 2007 by the operators and the regulators. Any further action is a matter for the independent regulators.
Mr. Weir: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what discussions his predecessor Department had with the (a) Nuclear Installations Inspectorate and (b) Environment Agency as a result of the discovery of a coolant leak at Sizewell A on 7 June 2007. [280806]
Mr. Kidney: I assume that the hon. Member is referring to the coolant leak at Sizewell A on 7 January 2007, as I am not aware of such an incident at the site on 7 June 2009.
The arrangements in place for reporting events on nuclear licensed sites in the UK are well established. The information received by the Nuclear Installations Inspectorate (NII) from the licensee is distributed according to the significance of the event. In this instance relevant Government Departments were alerted through the normal reporting arrangements. NII had no formal discussions with DTI or BERR about the event, but maintained regular contact at official level. Throughout its investigations NII kept the Environment Agency informed of progress.
The Environment Agency (EA) had no formal discussions with DEFRA concerning the incident though at official level there was regular contact.
Health
Accident and Emergency Departments: Admissions
Mr. Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many patients who presented at accident and emergency departments were not subsequently admitted to hospital in each year since 1997. [284292]
Mr. Mike O'Brien: The Department does not collect information in the format requested.
However, the Department does collect data on the number of accident and emergency (A&E) attendances and the number of admissions to hospital wards via an A&E unit. Data on both of these are presented in the following table, for years in which figures are available.(1)
(1) The criteria for calculating attendance and admissions numbers have varied slightly over the period covered by the table.
Alcoholic Drinks: Misuse
Mr. Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many times stomach pumping was used in NHS hospitals for the treatment of excessive alcohol consumption in the last 12 months. [283929]
Gillian Merron: Data on stomach pumping for the treatment of excessive alcohol consumption are not collected centrally.
Allergies
Jo Swinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many new specialist training posts for allergy specialists will take effect in August 2009. [284618]
Ann Keen: There are no newly created specialist training posts for allergy specialists taking effect in August 2009. The number of posts advertised in open recruitment in England for entry into allergy in the current recruitment round is two.
Back Pain
Mr. Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many patients have received NHS treatment for back problems in each year since 1997. [284194]
Ann Keen: The information requested on the number of people treated with back problems in the national health service is not collected centrally as back pain sufferers are normally treated in a primary care environment. The Hospital Episode Statistics data are able to give information on hospital admissions only, where clinical codes exist.
It is the responsibility of primary care trusts to commission services for people with back problems to meet the needs of their local population. The Department is supporting commissioning through the recent publication of an 18-week pathway for the management and treatment of back pain and treatments. NHS Choices has also provided information that will raise awareness of back pain and treatments.
Complementary Medicine
Lynne Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Health which complementary therapies are provided through the NHS. [284143]
Gillian Merron:
Decisions about what services, including complementary therapies, to commission or fund are the responsibility of the national health service. Primary care trusts will often have their own policies on this, based on available evidence of safety, efficacy and relevant National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence
recommendations. The Department does not maintain a position on any type of complementary or alternative medicine treatment.
Dental Services
Mr. Sanders: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps his Department is taking to encourage dentists who provide NHS services to take on additional NHS patients. [284627]
Ann Keen: It is for primary care trusts (PCTs) to assess the local demand for national health service dentistry, and commission appropriate services to meet it.
All 10 strategic health authorities have set themselves the aim of providing access to NHS dentistry for all who seek it by March 2011 at the latest. We are supporting PCTs to meet this aim with extra resources—an 11 per cent. uplift in our dental funding allocations for 2008-09, and a further 8.5 per cent. uplift in total funds for 2009-10, which takes the total available for dental allocations to £2,257 million (net of patient charge income).
We have also set up an expanded national dental access programme, headed by Dr. Mike Warburton an experienced clinician and manager, to support managers and clinicians to rapidly expand services where needed.
“NHS dental service in England: An independent review led by Professor Jimmy Steele”, published on 22 June recommends a series of further actions to support access and quality, including how to structure the dental contract to further support dentists to take on new patients. Piloting of the recommendations will begin from this autumn. This report has already been placed in the Library and is also available at:
Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make an assessment of the effect on the level of demand for NHS dental services of the economic downturn. [283825]
Ann Keen: It is for primary care trusts (PCTs) to assess local demand for national health services dental services, taking into account all factors which are likely to affect this, and commission the appropriate services.
All 10 strategic health authorities have set themselves the aim of providing access to NHS dentistry for all who seek it by March 2011 at the latest. We are supporting PCTs to meet this aim with extra resources—an 11 per cent. uplift in our dental funding allocations for 2008-09, and a further 8.5 per cent. uplift in total funds for 2009-10, which takes the total available for dental allocations to £2,257 million (net of patient charge income).
We have also set up an expanded national dental access programme, headed by Dr. Mike Warburton an experienced clinician and manager, to support managers and clinicians to rapidly expand services where needed. New practices are opening regularly as a result of the new funding and focus. NHS dental services are expanding and therefore in a strong position to meet any extra demand that may result from the economic downturn.
“NHS dental service in England: An independent review led by Professor Jimmy Steele”, published on 22 June recommends a series of further actions to
support access and quality. Piloting of the recommendations will begin from this autumn. This report has already been placed in the Library and is also available at:
Doctors: Entry Clearances
Mr. Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many non-EU doctors were granted entry to work in the NHS (a) through the points-based immigration system and (b) under other systems in each of the last 10 years; and what proportion of the doctors in the NHS were non-EU doctors in each such year. [284429]
Ann Keen: The Department does not collect these data centrally.
Drugs: Misuse
Mike Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much funding has been provided to people resident in Hemel Hempstead by the National Treatment Agency in each of the last five years; and how much has been allocated in the next two years. [283671]
Gillian Merron: The Government provide specific resources for drug treatment in the form of the pooled drug treatment budget (PTB), administered by the National Treatment Agency for Substance Misuse, which combined with local mainstream funding results in substantial investment in local drug treatment funding.
The PTB is allocated to local drug partnerships and figures for the Hertfordshire Drug and Alcohol Team are as follows:
| Funding (£) | |
The projected PTB allocation for 2010-11 is £4,704,952. However, the exact allocation is dependent on partnership performance and will not be confirmed until January 2010. Figures for 2011-12 are not yet available.
Until 2008-09 PTB was allocated against a basket of indicators of social and economic deprivation known to reflect drug use as the best available proxy of treatment need.
Differences in performance between drug partnerships in getting people into treatment were resulting in unjustifiable variations in the size of the central contribution to the costs of each person’s treatment.
2009-10 is the second year of a process which seeks to produce a fairer allocation system which more accurately matches need, activity and resources.
The new process is based on three elements:
25 per cent. of the allocation is based on the indicators underpinning the previous formula to reflect the differential cost of responding to different levels of complex need such as homelessness, mental heath, family breakdown and unemployment;
75 per cent. is based on activity in the treatment system with areas being allocated a set amount per person treated effectively; and
The final element is an area cost adjustment figure to reflect the varying costs of delivering services in different parts of the country.
To promote an orderly alteration to service planning, the change is being introduced over three years.
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