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8 July 2009 : Column 864W—continued
The results of the survey conducted in 2007-08 will be published shortly.
Dental Services
Mr. Hepburn: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people were waiting for orthodontic treatment in (a) South Tyneside, (b) the North East and (c) England in each of the last five years. [284638]
Ann Keen: Information is not collected centrally on waiting times for national health service orthodontic treatment provided in primary care.
From 1 January 2009, no one should wait more than 18 weeks from the time they are referred by their general practitioner or dentist to the start of their consultant-led treatment unless it is clinically appropriate to do so, or they choose to wait longer.
The 18 weeks commitment covers pathways that involve or might involve consultant-led care. Referral to treatment (RTT) data collection monitors the length of time from referral through to treatment and is used to measure performance against the 18 weeks operational standard.
Information is collected on the total number of incomplete RTT pathways, for oral surgery, which includes orthodontic treatment. This data looks at patients who have entered a RTT pathway but whose treatment had not yet started. Data is available from August 2007. The following table shows data for South Tyneside primary care trust (PCT), North East strategic health authority (SHA) and England:
| Oral surgery, total number of incomplete RTT pathways | |||
| South Tyneside PCT | North East SHA | England | |
| Note: RTT data are only available from 2007 onwards. Source: Department of Health 18 weeks RTT data. | |||
Mr. Hepburn: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the average combined waiting time for initial orthodontic assessment and subsequent treatment was in (a) South Tyneside, (b) the North East and (c) England in each of the last five years. [284640]
Ann Keen: Information is not collected centrally on waiting times for national health service orthodontic treatment provided in primary care.
From 1 January 2009, no one should wait more than 18 weeks from the time they are referred by their general practitioner or dentist to the start of their consultant-led treatment unless it is clinically appropriate to do so, or they choose to wait longer.
The 18 weeks commitment covers pathways that involve or might involve consultant-led care. Referral to treatment (RTT) data collection monitors the length of time from referral through to treatment and is used to measure performance against the 18 weeks operational standard.
Information is collected on the median RTT waiting times for oral surgery, which includes orthodontic treatment. Data for admired pathways is available from April 2007, and data for non-admitted pathways is available form August 2007.
The following table shows data for South Tyneside primary care trust (PCT), North East strategic health authority (SHA) and England
| Oral Surgery - RTT waiting times (weeks) | |||
| South Tyneside PCT | North East SHA | England | |
| Notes: 1 The median waiting time reflects the amount of time that the 'middle' patient treated has waited. 2 RTT data is only available from 2007 onwards. Source: Department of Health 18 weeks RTT data | |||
Mr. Hepburn: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many orthodontic treatments were provided by dentists and orthodontists for (a) adults and (b) children in (i) South Tyneside, (ii) the North East and (iii) England in each of the last five years. [284641]
Ann Keen: The information requested is not available, and could be provided only at a disproportionate cost.
However, the NHS Information Centre intends to publish information relating to units of orthodontic activity for 2008-09 in the NHS Dental Statistics for England: 2008-09 report, expected to be published in August 2009. This will be provided by strategic health authority area in England.
Departmental Manpower
Mr. Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health with reference to page 232 of his Department’s Annual Report 2009, what the job titles are of those staff members who earn more than £150,000 per annum. [283883]
Phil Hope: The job titles of the staff members who earn more than £150,000 per annum are presented as follows:
| Number | |
|
Doctors employed by the Department on national health service pay terms |
Earnings referred to above include salary and pay-related allowances but not non-consolidated performance pay (bonuses).
Departmental Official Engagements
Sandra Gidley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health from how many public engagements each Minister in his Department has withdrawn after accepting an invitation to attend in the last 12 months. [284987]
Phil Hope: This information is not held centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
Departmental Public Expenditure
Mr. Hurd: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what terms and conditions are set by his Department in relation to the provision of funding from his Department’s budget to (a) charities, (b) voluntary organisations and (c) social enterprises. [284211]
Phil Hope: The standard terms and conditions of grants awarded to third sector organisations through the Third Sector Programme, the Social Enterprise Investment Fund and Opportunities for Volunteering scheme have been placed in the Library.
Departmental Sick Leave
Mr. Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many (a) staff in his Department and (b) NHS staff are on long-term sickness absence; and how many such staff are on long-term sickness absence for mental health reasons. [283935]
Phil Hope: In the Department itself, as of 30 June 2009, 23 people were on long-term sick leave (defined as being more than 28 days continuous sick leave). Of those long-term sickness absences, five were for reasons of mental health.
Centrally available data on national health service staff does not provide the information requested.
Epilepsy: Medical Treatments
Fiona Mactaggart: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what recent discussions his Department has had with epilepsy patient groups on the generic substitution of branded anti-epileptic drugs. [284649]
Mr. Mike O'Brien: A number of patient representative groups, such as those representing epilepsy sufferers, have written to the Department expressing their concerns on the implementation of generic substitution. We have not yet met with any such groups but we want to make sure we engage with all stakeholders in the best way possible and are currently considering how best to do so.
Patient safety will be paramount in taking forward the work on generic substitution. It has long been the Department's policy to encourage generic prescribing where possible, for reasons of good professional practice and because of the opportunities for more effective use of national health service resources. However, we have always recognised that there are circumstances in which it may be clinically appropriate to prescribe a particular brand of drug even where a generic is available if the prescriber considers it essential for the patient to receive that specific product. This position will need to be maintained under any new specific proposals made as part of the work on generic substitution.
Health Services: Hygiene
Mr. Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps he is considering, other than hand sanitation, to reduce the incidence of healthcare-associated infections. [284587]
Ann Keen: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave him on 17 June 2009, Official Report, column 381W.
Health Services: Volunteers
Mr. Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when he plans to announce policy decisions following his Department's consultation on supporting volunteering in health and social care. [284428]
Phil Hope: A response document to ‘Towards a strategy to support volunteering in Health and Social Care: consultation’, will be published in the next few weeks.
Hospitals: Smoking
Mr. Greg Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps he is taking to ensure the implementation of the ban on smoking in public places in psychiatric hospitals and psychiatric wards of hospitals; and if he will make a statement. [284877]
Phil Hope: The smoking ban in mental health in-patient settings came into force on 1 July 2008. We believe that many mental health trusts have implemented the ban with little or no difficulty. These inpatient settings are being transformed for the better and going smoke free is part of this. Mental health staff and patients deserve the same healthier, smoke free environment as the rest of the national health service.
We will continue to encourage mental health trusts to maintain smoke free environments in in-patient settings.
Influenza: Drugs
Mr. Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many doses of Relenza the NHS holds; and when he expects the antiviral stockpile to be complete. [283870]
Gillian Merron: The United Kingdom stockpile of Relenza is complete and amounts to 10.5 million treatment courses. Approximately 300,000 treatment courses have been distributed to the national health service in England.
Mr. Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health by what date he expects sufficient stockpiles of Tamiflu to be in place to be able to treat 80 per cent. of the population. [284200]
Gillian Merron: The delivery profile as indicated by the manufacturer should lead to us completing the stockpile in October 2009.
Kidneys: Health Education
Mrs. Dean: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what health education programmes his Department has initiated in the last 12 months to raise the level of public awareness of chronic kidney disease; and what further such programmes are planned in the next 12 months. [284485]
Ann Keen: Awareness of the risk of chronic kidney disease is being raised as part of the NHS Health Checks programme and we are also developing a patient information leaflet on identifying unhealthy kidneys, which could lead to earlier identification of chronic kidney disease. This information will be made widely available.
There is also information on “knowing the symptoms of kidney disease” including a self-assessment tool on the NHS Choices website which can be found at:
Local Involvement Networks: Stoke-on-Trent
Joan Walley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether he has evaluated the (a) selection criteria for, (b) level of expertise of and (c) relevant interests of the Local Involvement Networks executive board in Stoke-on-Trent; what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the resources available to the board to carry out its functions; and if he will make a statement. [284967]
Ann Keen: No evaluation or assessment has been made of the Stoke-on-Trent Local Involvement Network (LINk) executive board, or the adequacy of resources available. The Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Act 2007 put a duty on local authorities with social services responsibilities to establish LINks in their area from 1 April 2008. LINks are independent and have the power to develop their own priorities, agendas and governance arrangements. The Stoke-on-Trent LINk management board is elected by the members of the LINk. The Department has issued a range of guidance to support LINks, their hosts, and local authorities in this new role and provides the funding for LINks (currently £84 million for 2008-09 to 2010-11), the vast majority of which goes directly to local authorities. The level of the local authority contribution to the LINk is a matter for individual councils. As part of its annual reporting to the Secretary of State, an individual LINk is asked to declare the amount of funding made available to it in order that it might carry out its duties. The Department has not yet received the annual report from Stoke-on-Trent LINk.
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