| Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
9 Dec 2009 : Column 492W—continued
NHS: Data Protection
Mr. Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what breaches of data protection legislation have been recorded in the NHS in each of the last five years; and how many formal undertakings from the Information Commissioner have been signed by NHS organisations consequent on a breach of the legislation. [304243]
Mr. Mike O'Brien: National health service organisations are directly responsible for compliance with the Data Protection Act 1998. NHS organisations should also publish serious data loss incidents in their annual reports and notify their strategic health authority (SHA). In turn, SHAs should publish quarterly data losses regarding its NHS organisations on their websites.
It is for the Information Commissioner and the courts to determine whether or not data protection legislation has been breached in any particular case. Details of formal undertakings are published on the Information Commissioner's website.
NHS: DHL
Mr. Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what mechanisms are being used to monitor the performance of DHL under its contract for NHS supply and delivery of medical supplies and equipment; and if he will make a statement. [304253]
Mr. Mike O'Brien: The Department signed a 10-year Master Services Agreement with DHL on 4 September 2006 for the provision of procurement and supply chain services, trading under the name of NHS Supply Chain.
Schedule 23 of the Master Services Agreement sets out the Key Performance Indicators and post-transition Key Performance Indicators. The post-transition phase began in August 2007.
A copy of Schedule 23 of the Master Services Agreement has been placed in the Library.
NHS: Finance
Mr. David Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the budget is of each NHS trust and NHS foundation trust hospital in England for 2009-10. [304892]
Mr. Mike O'Brien: The forecast turnover for the 2009-10 financial year of every NHS trust in England is published in the most recent edition of The Quarter, which can be found on the Department's website:
Information on NHS foundation trust plans for the 2009-10 financial year can be found on the website of Monitor, the independent regulator of NHS foundation trusts at:
NHS: Information and Communications Technology
Mr. Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether his Department has decided whether BT and CSC have met the criteria published by Connecting for Health on 29 October 2009 for delivery of IT solutions to the NHS through the National Programme for IT. [304240]
Mr. Mike O'Brien:
The Department set an end of November deadline for achieving significant progress, in terms of implementing information systems which support electronic records for patients, against published criteria for success. It will take some time to judge
progress against all of the criteria and we are currently reviewing all of the outcomes in order to decide the best way forward.
Mr. Bacon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many open issues are logged against the Lorenzo software system. [303848]
Mr. Mike O'Brien: As at 1 December 2009, the number of open issues logged against the Lorenzo software system by live national health service trusts was 453.
Many of the open issues are of low business impact, and there is a rolling schedule to resolve them in line with trusts' priorities.
NHSU
Sandra Gidley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what recent assessment has been made of the performance of the NHS University against its objectives. [304421]
Ann Keen: A review was commissioned from Sir William Wells. This reported in 2004 and is available on the Department's website at:
A copy has been placed in the Library.
Sandra Gidley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much the NHS University has cost in each year since its establishment. [304422]
Ann Keen: The NHS University (NHSU) was launched in December 2003.
The budget for NHSU was £27 million in 2003-04, and £43.676 million in 2004-05.
NHSU was officially dissolved on 31 July 2005.
Patient Choice Schemes
Norman Lamb: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will place in the Library a copy of the extended choice network rules. [304110]
Mr. Mike O'Brien: A copy of the Extended Choice Network Rules has been placed in the Library.
Pharmacy
Sandra Gidley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many pharmacies in each primary care trust area have (a) opened and (b) closed in each of the last five years. [304498]
Mr. Mike O'Brien: The information available on national health service community pharmacies in England has been placed in the Library.
Social Services
Mr. Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Health with reference to paragraph 4.7 of the Impact Assessment for the Personal Care at Home Bill, for what reasons (a) chiropody and (b) podiatry are exempted from services included within the definition of personal care. [304786]
Phil Hope: The definition of personal care is based on the draft regulations being made under sections 8 and 20 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008, which exclude chiropody and podiatry. These services are within the scope of health care services, rather than personal care.
Mr. Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Health with reference to table 2 of the impact assessment for the Personal Care at Home Bill, what methodology was used to calculate the additional costs; and whether the figures given for additional costs relate to millions of pounds. [304794]
Phil Hope: The estimated additional costs for older people are based on analyses from the Personal Social Services Research Unit's (PSSRU) micro-simulation model for older people. The PSSRU cost estimates are broken down into groups of individuals with difficulty with different total numbers of activities of daily living (ADLs) on the basis of the average predicted need for each group-as referred to in table 1 of the impact assessment.
The additional categories not considered by PSSRU-that is, the estimates of residential care and informal care switchers-are then added. All of the residential care switchers are assumed to have difficulty with four or more ADLs.
Mr. Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Health with reference to table 2 of the impact assessment for the Personal Care at Home Bill, from what source he derived the number of younger adults described as (a) already receiving state-funded care and (b) self-funding plus unmet need. [304795]
Phil Hope: The estimate of 110,000 younger adults eligible for free personal care at home is based principally on the referrals, assessments and packages of care (RAP) data from councils for 2007-08. In the absence of data on the proportion of younger service users whose needs are assessed as critical under fair access to care services (FACS) critical, for the purposes of the impact assessment, it is assumed that there could be some 100,000 younger adult local authority funded users receiving personal care in the critical category. It is likely that most of these receive their care free, as their incomes are generally low. It has therefore been assumed that 90 per cent. already receive free personal care at home and that 10 per cent. make a means-tested contribution towards the cost.
Little is known about the number of younger adults who currently fund their own care at home. It has been assumed that around a further 10,000 younger adults may be brought under state funding following the introduction of the Personal Care at Home Bill.
The figures have been rounded to the nearest 10,000 to reflect the uncertainty. The figure of 110,000 should therefore be treated as an estimate.
Mr. Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Health with reference to table 2 of the impact assessment for the Personal Care at Home Bill, from what source the costs referred to in bullet 4 of Annex A were derived. [304797]
Phil Hope:
Annex A sets out the assumptions on which the analysis is based. Bullet 4 explains that, in the absence of data giving the relationship between costs
and average predicted need, the assumption has been made that the relationship is linear, i.e. that twice the predicted need score on this measure is equivalent to twice the weekly care costs.
Mr. Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Health with reference to the impact assessment for the Personal Care at Home Bill; whether reablement packages will cover the costs of (a) hardware and (b) labour. [304807]
Phil Hope: We understand that there is a great deal of variability in both the costs of reablement across councils and the different types of services which may be available in particular localities. In our consultation, "Personal Care at Home: a consultation on proposals for regulations and guidance", a copy of which has already been placed in the Library, we suggest that a reablement package could include physiotherapy, occupational therapy, installation of telecare or adaptations to the house. The £1,000 per person figure referred to is based on an estimate of 30 hours of care at £30 an hour and an allowance for some equipment. The precise nature of any package would be a matter for local decision, based on an assessment of the person's needs.
Mr. Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Health with reference to paragraph 1.6 of the impact assessment for the Personal Care at Home Bill, in what circumstances the Government provides social care where private insurance cover has proved inadequate. [304808]
Phil Hope: Councils currently assess needs and means in reaching decisions on whether or not to provide state funded social care. For people with high needs who are not eligible on the grounds of means, the lack of a private insurance market has meant they may have already incurred significant costs in meeting their own care needs. As part of plans for a national care service, we have been considering a number of proposals which include insurance schemes, so that people with high care needs will not find themselves faced with unexpected care costs.
Mr. Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Health with reference to paragraph 2.2 of the impact assessment for the Personal Care at Home Bill, what estimate he has made of the amount of funding referred to. [304809]
Phil Hope: No estimate has been made on future investment in social care. However, we know that, in order to ensure that a new care and support system is affordable, we will need to be prepared to take tough decisions to ensure that existing resources are targeted on those who need them the most. But we know that the money already in the system will not be enough.
In 20 years' time, we expect there to be 1.7 million more adults needing care and support than there are now and proportionately fewer people of working age to help pay for the funding of that care and support. We will not be able to pay for the care that is needed simply by reprioritising the money we already have. As a society, we are going to have to spend more on care and support if we are to maintain a care and support system that
gives older people and disabled people quality of life, dignity and peace of mind about their future care costs.
Mr. Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to paragraph 2.2 of the impact assessment for the Personal Care at Home Bill, for what reasons the proposal was not included in the Green Paper. [304810]
Phil Hope: Free personal care for those with the highest needs in their own home was not considered in the Green Paper because it is a step towards that National Care Service. The Green Paper puts forward fundamental proposals-partnership, insurance and comprehensive-for the National Care Service to reform the system for all adults.
Proposals for reablement put forward in the impact assessment for the Personal Care at Home Bill were also considered as part of the Green Paper.
Mr. Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will estimate the costs of taxpayer-funded personal care as set out in the Personal Care at Home Bill if the assumptions of the impact assessment were applied to population projections for (a) 2015, (b) 2020, (c) 2025 and (d) 2030. [304847]
Phil Hope: The impact assessment estimates the first full year costs of extending free personal care at home to those with the highest needs at £537 million. It also estimates the costs of providing reablement services over the same period at £130 million, bringing the total costs of the proposals to approximately £670 million. The impact assessment only covers the period from October 2010 to the end of 2012-13. Estimating beyond this point to 2015, 2020, 2025 and 2030 is problematic because of the uncertainties involved. The proposals here are intended as a step towards a fully integrated National Care Service, at which point a different set of assumptions may need to be applied.
Mr. Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Health with reference to the checklist of impact tests in the impact assessment for the Personal Care at Home Bill, whether the results of the human rights impact test have been published. [304851]
Phil Hope: I sent a memorandum to my hon. Friend the Member for Hendon and Chair of the Joint Committee on Human Rights (Mr. Dismore), on 27 November 2009. The memorandum details the human rights implications of the Personal Care at Home Bill. A copy has been placed in the Library.
Mr. Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment his Department has made of the relative effects on the environment of care delivered at home and in a residential home setting. [304852]
Phil Hope: A sustainable development impact test has not been carried out as part of the impact assessment. The policy will help people to remain living at home for longer where this is what they wish. The environmental impact of the policy is likely to be negligible.
Mr. Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate he has made of the average lifespan of people who are Fair Access to Care Services critical; and what assumptions his Department has made on the effect on life expectancy of enactment of his legislative proposals on personal care at home. [304944]
Phil Hope: No estimate or assumption of the average lifespan or life expectancy of those who will benefit from the legislation have been made. Costings have been made on the estimated numbers of people meeting the criteria in any one year, with the exception of the costs of reablement and the costs of additional assessment, which are based on the flow of new entrants over the course of a year.
Mr. Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Health with reference to the impact assessment for the Personal Care at Home Bill, what the (a) net benefit and (b) net benefit range associated with his legislative proposals is. [304948]
Phil Hope: The impact assessment has not attempted to specify the net benefit or a net benefit range owing to uncertainty in estimating a number of specific benefits, that is, the benefits from meeting unmet need, re-ablement and reducing the savings disincentive. This notwithstanding, the areas in which benefits have been quantified, namely those people in highest need who will receive free personal care at home, equity distribution and the extended insurance coverage, justify the proposed policy on cost-benefit grounds.
Mr. Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Health with reference to the impact assessment for the Personal Care at Home Bill, what plans he has for meeting transition costs. [304950]
Phil Hope: A one-off transition cost of £335 million is set out in the impact assessment for the first half-year of the policy, from October 2010. Thereafter, we do not consider that there will be transition costs associated with this for local authorities. However, we will be reviewing the impact of the policy after 12-18 months to ensure that it is being applied properly and that there are no unforeseen costs or perverse incentives.
| Next Section | Index | Home Page |