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9 Sep 2009 : Column 1984W—continued
Dermatology: Manpower
Mr. Bruce George: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what steps he is taking to increase the number of General Practitioners with a special interest in dermatology; [290673]
(2) what steps he is taking to increase the number of specialist nurses in dermatology. [290677]
Mr. Mike O'Brien: Local health care commissioners and providers are responsible for the provision of services appropriate to the needs of their local health communities, taking into account relevant national guidance. The Government have made clear, in a series of publications beginning with the White Paper "Our health, our care, our say" in January 2006, their commitment to providing a greater proportion of services close to where people live, where it is appropriate and safe to do so. General guidance on the provision of services using general practitioners with special interests was given in "Implementing care closer to home: convenient quality care for patients" and guidance on the role of specialist nurses is described in "Long term neurological conditions: a good practice guide to the development of the multidisciplinary team and the value of the specialist nurse". Specific guidance on dermatology services was given in July 2008 in "Delivering care closer to home: meeting the challenge", and in the associated resource pack "Providing care for patients with skin conditions".
Diabetes: Health Services
Chris Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what research his Department (a) commissioned and (b) evaluated on the effects of diabetes networks, as defined in the National Service Framework for Diabetes, on patient outcomes for people with diabetes; [290763]
(2) what research his Department has (a) commissioned and (b) evaluated on the quality of diabetes services provided by primary care trusts which (i) have an effective diabetes network as defined in the National Service Framework for Diabetes and (ii) do not have such a network. [290766]
Mr. Mike O'Brien: We recognise the important role that diabetes networks can play in developing integrated services, as well as providing a structure for service planning and delivery. We are working with NHS Diabetes and Diabetes UK to expand networks across England.
We have not commissioned any specific research or evaluations on either the effects of diabetes networks on patient outcomes for people with diabetes or the quality of diabetes services provided by primary care trusts which have an effective diabetes network, and those that do not have such a network, as defined in the National Service Framework for Diabetes.
Doctors: Sports
Greg Mulholland: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many persons are working as consultant physicians in sport and exercise medicine with the NHS; and how many such persons received (a) a certificate of eligibility for specialist registration and (b) a certificate of completion of training in sports and exercise medicine from a UK university in the last 12 months. [290626]
Mr. Mike O'Brien: The national NHS workforce census shows that there are three consultants working in sport and exercise medicine.
There have been 11 certificate of eligibility for specialist registration (CESR) applications to date, with a further four currently with the Postgraduate Medical Education and Training Board.
Five people have completed CESR and achieved a certificate of completion of training.
Fertility
Mr. Burrowes: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what guidance his Department has issued on the eligibility of a person classified as prematurely infertile for the full 10-year extension of storage of gametes and embryos referred to in the Human Fertilisation and Embryology (Statutory Storage Period for Embryos and Gametes) Regulations 2009 in circumstances in which that person's infertility would no longer be regarded as premature in the later stages of the 10-year extension; [290931]
(2) what guidance his Department has issued on the age at which infertility in (a) men and (b) women may be regarded as premature referred to in the Human Fertilisation and Embryology (Statutory Storage Period for Embryos and Gametes) Regulations 2009. [290932]
Mr. Mike O'Brien: The Department has not issued guidance on the definition of premature infertility. The individual factors of each case would be taken into account by a registered medical practitioner when deciding if the criteria for extending storage periods for embryos or gametes are met. Therefore, it would not be appropriate for the Department, or the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA), to give a definition of premature infertility or to specify an age when infertility would no longer be deemed premature.
Health Services: Overseas Residence
Mr. Moss: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many non-British residents received NHS treatment in (a) England and (b) North East Cambridgeshire in each of the last 10 years; what estimate he has made of the cost to the NHS of treating each such group in each year; what proportion of such expenditure was recovered through charges to such patients and their insurers in each year; and if he will make a statement. [290671]
Mr. Mike O'Brien: The total audited national income from overseas patients under non-reciprocal arrangements and total losses, bad debt and claims abandoned for overseas visitors for years 2002-03 to 2008-09 for which figures are available for England and North East Cambridgeshire are shown in the tables.
The provisions of the NHS (Charges to Overseas Visitors) Regulations 1989 place a legal obligation on providers of National Health Service hospital services to establish whether patients are ordinarily resident in the United Kingdom and, if not, whether they are exempt from charges under the provisions of the regulations or liable to pay for any treatment provided. Under the
regulations a number of categories of non-British citizens who are currently either resident or visiting the UK are exempted from charges for some or all of their NHS treatment. These include, but are not limited to, nationals of the European economic area states and other countries with which the UK has a bilateral health agreement, students and some workers.
The figures provided therefore reflect chargeable patients under these regulations. Successive governments have not required the NHS to provide separate statistics on the number of non-British residents seen, treated or charged under these provisions. Therefore, it is not possible to provide that level of information.
The total audited national income from overseas patients under non-reciprocal arrangements, and total losses, bad debt and claims abandoned for overseas visitors for years 2002-03 to 2008-09 for which figures are available for England.
| £ | ||
| Non-reciprocal income received | Bad debts and claims abandoned in respect of overseas patients | |
| Notes: 1. 2003-04 was the first year we separately identified income from overseas patients under non-reciprocal agreements. Therefore there are no data before this time. 2. We do not collect data from NHS Foundation Trusts so figures from 2004-05 onwards exclude these sites. Source: NHS Trust Audited Summarisation Schedules. | ||
The total audited income from overseas patients under non-reciprocal arrangements, and total losses, bad debt and claims abandoned for overseas visitors for years 2002-03 to 2008-09 for which figures are available for those organisations within North East Cambridgeshire.
| Income | |||||
| £ | |||||
| Financial year | Addenbrookes NHS Trust | Kings Lynn and Wisbech Hospitals NHS Trust | Queen Elizabeth Hospital Kings Lynn NHS Trust | Peterborough Hospitals NHS Trust | Total North East Cambridgeshire |
Health Services: West Yorkshire
Greg Mulholland: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many serious untoward incidents arising from the provision of patient care in out-of-hours and urgent care services were registered by each primary care trust in West Yorkshire in each quarter since April 2008. [290623]
Mr. Mike O'Brien: This information is not collected centrally.
Greg Mulholland: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what performance standards against the internal operating requirement benchmarks for measuring the quality of out-of-hours service providers were reported to each primary care trust in West Yorkshire in each quarter since April 2008. [290624]
Mr. Mike O'Brien: This information is not collected centrally.
From 1 January 2005 all providers of out-of-hours (OOH) services have been required to comply with the national OOH Quality Requirements, first published in October 2004 (a copy of which has been placed in the Library). Following the National Audit Office 2006 report The Provision of Out of Hours Care in England, the Department worked with the Royal College of General Practitioners to review the Quality Requirements, which were updated in July 2006.
All out-of-hours services must be delivered to the National Quality Requirements, ensuring that patients have access to consistently high quality and responsive care, regardless of where they live.
Providers must report regularly to primary care trusts on their compliance with the Quality Requirements, and their services will be regularly audited to ensure that patients are receiving quality care.
Hepatitis
Lynne Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what recent estimate his Department has made of the rate of contraction of Hepatitis C via the sharing of notes and straws by cocaine users; what measures are in place to discourage this practice; and if he will make a statement. [290947]
Mr. Mike O'Brien: The Department has not made such an estimate. Current advice from the Advisory Group on Hepatitis is that the sharing of bank notes or straws for intranasal cocaine use is a theoretically plausible route of hepatitis C transmission, but that robust evidence of an actual risk is lacking. The NHS hepatitis C website (www.nhs.uk/hepc) recommends that intranasal cocaine users do not share straws or banknotes because of this potential risk.
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