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22 Oct 2009 : Column 1655W—continued
Elderly Care
Miss McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate he has made of the number of people aged 85 years and over who have a disability or limiting long-term illness in (a) Vale of York constituency, (b) North Yorkshire and (c) England. [294571]
Phil Hope: Data on the number of people aged 85 years and over with a disability is not collected centrally, although information on the number of people receiving social services funded either fully or partially by Councils with Adult Social Services Responsibilities in England is collected and published by the NHS Information Centre for health and social care as part of the Referrals, Assessments and Packages of Care return.
During the period 1 April 2007 to 31 March 2008 the number of adults aged 65 and over with physical disabilities, frailty or a sensory impairment receiving a social care service funded either partly or wholly by their Councils with Adult Social Services Responsibilities following a community care assessment was in North Yorkshire 14,760 and in England 1,045,250. Data for the Vale of York is not available.
Information on the number of people over 85 who have a limiting long termed illness is also not available.
However, using general practitioner patient survey results, where people over 85 are reported to have one or more long standing conditions, together with population figures from the 2001 census, it is estimated that Yorkshire and Humber region (not North Yorkshire) has 75,000, Vale of York has 1,400, and England has 746,000 people aged 85 and over living with one or more long term condition.
Hospitals: Waiting Lists
Miss McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps are taken to seek to ensure that notification of medical appointments reach patients before the appointment date; and whether he has made an assessment of the likely effects on arrangements for medical appointments of industrial action at national level among Royal Mail employees. [294578]
Gillian Merron: As part of the ongoing work of the national health service resilience project, the Department of Health and the national health service is aware the Communication Workers Union have announced plans for industrial action. As with similar national incidents, the Department of Health is working with the Cabinet Office and the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills as part of the cross-government response to this issue, and ensuring any impact on NHS services is fully understood by all concerned, and the NHS is putting in place appropriate contingency measures.
IVF
Miss McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) whether he plans to increase the availability of fertility treatment at primary care trusts that do not currently provide funding for at least one full cycle of in vitro fertilisation; and if he will make a statement; [294437]
(2) what percentage of primary care trusts which provide funding for at least one full cycle of in vitro fertilisation do so for people within the recommended age range for treatment of between 23 and 39 years of age; [294438]
(3) which primary care trusts provide funding for one full cycle of in vitro fertilisation for women aged 39 years and six months only; [294439]
(4) what percentage of primary care trusts provide funding for people to receive (a) more than one full cycle of in vitro fertilisation (IVF), (b) one full cycle of IVF and (c) less than one full cycle of IVF; and if he will make a statement. [294440]
Gillian Merron: The provision of fertility treatment by primary care trusts (PCTs) is determined at local level. The Government support the clinical guidelines on the assessment and treatment for people with fertility problems produced by the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE), and has made it clear that PCTs are expected to move towards full implementation of the guideline. Many have already made firm progress (the number of PCTs offering three cycles of in vitro fertilisation (IVF) treatment has increased by 22 percentage points between 2007 and 2008) and others continue to develop their policies.
Responses to a survey carried out in early 2009 and published on the Department's website:
in June 2009 showed that in 2008 50 per cent. of PCTs provided either two or three full cycles of IVF, with 25 per cent. providing one full cycle and 22 per cent. providing one fresh cycle. A copy has already been placed in the Library. The North Staffordshire PCT reported offering treatment in exceptional cases only. The North Yorkshire and York PCT is the only PCT providing funding for one cycle of IVF for women age 39 years and six months only. We understand that this was instituted as a temporary measure from 2007 pending a review of provision across the Yorkshire and the Humber Strategic Health Authority.
88 per cent. of PCTs offer IVF for eligible couples across the full NICE recommended range for treatment, i.e. where the woman is aged 23-39.
Mental Health Services
Mr. Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people in England he estimates are waiting for access to psychological therapies; and what the average waiting time for such treatment is. [294357]
Phil Hope: This information is not collected nationally although all services in the Improving Access to Psychological Therapies programme monitor times from assessment to treatment in their area as well as both health and social outcomes of patients.
NHS Direct: Ambulance Services
Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the effects on the standards of patient care of integrating the services provided by NHS Direct and Ambulance Services; and if he will make a statement. [294325]
Mr. Mike O'Brien: The Department has not made an assessment on the effects on the standards of patient care of integrating the services provided by NHS Direct and Ambulance Services.
NHS: Finance
Mr. Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether (a) primary care trusts and (b) NHS trusts are required to make any financial returns to his Department other than those under the PFR3 and TFR3 data collections. [294359]
Mr. Mike O'Brien: Primary care trusts and national health service trusts are required to submit the following financial returns via the Financial Information Management System (FIMS), in addition to the PFR3 and TFR3 collections:
financial monitoring and accounts (FMA) forms;
programme budgeting (primary care trusts only);
FIMS(FHS)4 returns-General Medical Services (primary care trusts only);
FIMS(FHS)3 returns-General Ophthalmic Services (primary care trusts only); and
TFR6-ambulance services expenditure (ambulance trusts only).
Radiotherapy
Mr. Graham Stuart: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of (a) levels of the availability of and (b) waiting times for stereotactic radiosurgery treatments for NHS patients. [293969]
Mr. Mike O'Brien: The Department has not made a specific assessment of levels of availability of stereotactic radiosurgery.
Latest available data showing the median time waited (days) for a finished admission episode for stereotactic radiosurgery on tissue of the brain carried are shown in the following table:
| Median time waited (days) | |
| Notes: A finished admission episode is the first period of inpatient care under one consultant within one healthcare provider. Finished admission episodes are counted against the year in which the admission episode finishes. It should be noted that admissions do not represent the number of inpatients, as a person may have more than one admission within the year. Source: Hospital Episode Statistics, The NHS Information Centre for health and social care. | |
School Fruit and Vegetable Scheme
Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many (a) schools and (b) children have received free fruit and vegetables under the school fruit and vegetable scheme; how much fruit has been provided under the scheme; what account is taken of pupil absence rates in provision of fruit to schools under the scheme; how much the scheme has cost in each year of its operation; and if he will make a statement. [294326]
Gillian Merron: In the year to September 2009 the school fruit and vegetable scheme (SFVS) has distributed around 440 million pieces of fruit and vegetable each year to over two million children in over 16,300 schools. In April 2004 the Department took over the scheme from the Big Lottery Fund, and the funding for each year for figures available is as follows:
| £ million | |
Every local education authority (LEA) has its own absenteeism rate, and the national health service supply chain, who runs the SFVS, applies this to the number of children eligible at schools within all LEAs and, where necessary, reduces the fruit delivery by this amount.
Swine Flu: Vaccination
Anne Milton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 12 October 2009, Official Report, column 765W, on swine flu, who will receive payment for giving housebound patients vaccinations; how much will be paid for each such vaccination; and from which budget. [294115]
Gillian Merron [holding answer 19 October 2009]: General practitioner practices will receive £5.25 for each dose of swine flu vaccination administered to patients on their registered list who fall into one or more of the clinically at-risk priority groups announced by the Chief Medical Officer on 13 August 2009. This includes housebound patients who are on their list. The price per dose reflects the overall cost practices will incur in vaccinating their at-risk patients. The Department will provide additional funding to cover the cost of vaccinating patients in these priority groups.
Tuberculosis: Screening
Dr. Naysmith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) whether his Department has conducted recent research on the effectiveness of the port of entry screening programme for tuberculosis; [294331]
(2) what estimate he has made of the cost to his Department of operating the port of entry screening programme for tuberculosis in the last five years; [294350]
(3) how many cases of (a) active and (b) latent tuberculosis have been detected at port of entry screening for tuberculosis in the last five years. [294351]
Gillian Merron: The Department has not conducted research on the effectiveness of the port of entry screening programme for tuberculosis (TB).
The Department has not made an estimate of the cost of operating the port of entry screening programme for TB in the last five years.
The data on the number of cases on active and latent TB detected at port of entry screening in the last five years are not collected centrally.
The Health Protection Agency (HPA) receives data on cases classified as "possible active TB" from the Heathrow and Gatwick Health Control Units (HCUs) as reported on Port Form 103, which is how the medical inspector notifies the district to which the immigrant is going.
Data received by the HPA are shown in the following table:
| Number of PF 103 referrals | ||
| Period | Heathrow( 1) | Gatwick( 2) |
| Sources: (1) Heathrow HCU annual report (2) Gatwick HCU annual report | ||
Wheelchairs
Mr. Oaten: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when he expects to respond to the consultation on wheelchair services undertaken as part of his Department's review of the care services efficiency delivery retail model. [294922]
Phil Hope: The Care Services Efficiency Delivery programme undertook consultation on wheelchair services as part of the process to help inform their recommendations for possible future models. There are no plans to provide a response to these consultations.
Discussions are ongoing within the Department on the future model for wheelchair services and stakeholder views are seen as key in the development of any new model of service provision. Officials will continue to involve all groups of wheelchair service users and their carers as required.
International Development
Burma: Famine
Mr. Keith Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what assessment he has made of the of the severity of the famine in Chin state in Burma; and what relief his Department is providing for those affected by the famine. [294537]
Mr. Michael Foster: Over the last two years, rat infestations have exacerbated chronic food shortages suffered by many people in Chin State. In September 2009, the World Food Programme (WFP) estimated that more than 19,000 households in 303 villages had been severely affected by the infestations. In response to the crisis, the Department for International Development (DFID) has approved funding of £880,000 towards emergency aid delivered through the United Nations Development Programme, WFP and their local partners. WFP estimates that by September, nearly 88,000 people had benefited from this aid. We are keeping the situation under close review.
We are also considering, in consultation with the United Nations and other donors, how best to address longer-term food security needs in Chin State and other parts of Burma.
Middle East: Peace Negotiations
Mr. Moore: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development pursuant to the answer of 28 January 2009, Official Report, column 611W, on the Middle East: peace negotiations, whether his Department plans to second further staff to support the Quartet's Special Envoy from January 2010; and if he will make a statement. [293782]
Mr. Douglas Alexander: The Department for International Development does not have plans to second further staff after January 2010.
Mr. Moore: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the work of the Quartet Special Envoy, Tony Blair on the development of the Palestinian Territories; and if he will make a statement. [294336]
Mr. Douglas Alexander: The Department for International Development (DFID) continues to support the work of the Quartet Representative, Tony Blair. He is making a strong contribution to Palestinian state building and economic growth which has been commended by the Ad Hoc Liaison Committee.
The Quartet Envoy's work to relieve movement and access restrictions by acting as a focal point for international lobbying on these issues has been particularly important. The recent decision by the Israeli Government to remove 35 obstacles in the West Bank has already cut some journey times by half; and the IMF has predicted that the West Bank may see economic growth of 7 per cent. in 2009 should these movement and access constraints continue to be lifted.
The Quartet Representative has also made significant progress in mobilising funding for development projects from Arab and Western donors and has played a leading role in the high level investment conferences that took place in London and Bethlehem in 2008.
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