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16 Dec 2009 : Column 1307W—continued
Tenant Services Authority: Public Relations
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government who in his Department authorised the Tenant Services Authority to enter into a contract with the public affairs company APCO. [307035]
John Healey: The Tenant Services Authority did not seek authorisation from this Department because it was not required to do so.
Part 2, Chapter 2 of the Housing and Regeneration Act 2008 (2008 Act) establishes that there will be a corporate body known as the regulator for social housing. The regulator is the Tenant Services Authority (TSA); the 2008 Act establishes that it is not a servant of the Crown and can therefore determine its own procedures.
Thames Gateway Delivery Unit: Public Appointments
Mr. Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government on what date each chief executive of the Thames Gateway Delivery Unit took up the appointment. [306747]
Mr. Malik: Judith Armitt, the former chief executive of the former Thames Gateway Executive took up her appointment on 1 November 2006.
Town Centres: Government Assistance
Mr. Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government whether (a) rural villages and (b) market towns are eligible for funding from the Town Centre Initiative Fund. [306833]
Ms Rosie Winterton: Funding for the initiative was allocated by considering areas in England within the top half of the index of multiple deprivation that also had higher shop vacancy rates. We recognise that rural areas have also been affected by the downturn and 30 per cent. of local authorities receiving grants under the recent announcement earlier this month are from rural areas.
Health
Accident and Emergency Departments: Greater London
Lynne Featherstone: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate he has made of the number of people resident in each constituency who have used accident and emergency services at (a) Whittington Hospital, Islington, (b) North Middlesex Hospital, Haringey, (c) Royal Free Hospital, Camden and (d) University College London Hospital in each of the last five years; and if he will make a statement. [307506]
Mr. Mike O'Brien: This information is not collected centrally.
Ambulance Services: Crimes of Violence
Mike Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) how many physical assaults on staff of NHS ambulance service trusts were reported in each of the last three financial years; [307430]
(2) how many (a) prosecutions were brought and (b) cautions or conditional cautions were issued following assaults against NHS staff in ambulance service trusts in each of the last three financial years; [307431]
(3) what the average cost per unit is of protective anti-stab vests suitable for use by NHS ambulance trust frontline emergency response personnel; [307580]
(4) which NHS ambulance trusts (a) do and (b) do not issue protective anti-stab vests as standard to their frontline emergency response personnel; [307581]
(5) what guidance has been issued to NHS ambulance trusts on the provision of protective anti-stab vests for frontline emergency response personnel. [307582]
Ann Keen: Since 2004-05, the number of physical assaults against staff reported by national health service bodies in England has been collected annually by the NHS Security Management Service (SMS). The number of physical assaults on staff of NHS ambulance service trusts in England reported in each of the last three financial years is shown in the following table.
| Assaults | |
Information on the numbers of prosecutions, cautions and conditional cautions issued following assaults against NHS staff in ambulance service trusts in each of the last three financial years is not available centrally in the format requested and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost. Since 2004-05, the SMS has collated annual figures on all types of reported criminal sanctions following cases of assault. The number of such sanctions reported in each of the last three financial years is shown in the following table.
| Criminal sanctions | |
cautions and conditional cautions;
community rehabilitation or punishment orders;
imprisonment, including suspended sentences;
conditional discharges; and
fines.
Information on the average cost per unit is of protective anti-stab vests suitable for use by NHS ambulance trust frontline emergency response personnel is not available centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
Decisions on providing protective equipment for ambulance service staff, whether as standard or following risk assessment, are for the employing trusts to make. Information on which NHS ambulance trusts issue protective anti-stab vests as standard to their frontline emergency response personnel is not available centrally.
The SMS can assist employers through guidance on assessing risks and acting to protect staff and, where incidents do occur, on taking action against offenders. The SMS also works with stakeholders, including the Social Partnership Forum, to promote the safety and security of NHS staff. In 2006 the SMS issued the results of a study into the use of protective equipment for ambulance staff, conducted as part of the "Safer Hospitals Project". The information provided in this study informs ambulance trusts on the issues they should consider when assessing whether to provide protective anti-stab vests for frontline emergency response personnel.
Ambulance Services: Standards
Mike Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what guidance has been issued to NHS ambulance trusts on establishing criteria to use in setting target response times for Category C patients who require an ambulance response. [307429]
Mr. Mike O'Brien: Since 1 October 2004, local national health service organisations have had responsibility for managing and monitoring the ways in which local services respond to Category C calls (i.e. those presenting conditions that are not immediately serious or life threatening).
Autism
Mr. Leech: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans he has for the future role of the External Reference Group on autism strategy following the submission of its report to his Department. [307321]
Phil Hope: The External Reference Group (ERG) has made an invaluable contribution to the development of the autism strategy and we look forward to continuing to work with them in the delivery of that strategy.
Consultation with the ERG is a vital part of the development process, we will be looking for them to comment on the draft strategy, as well as discuss how the recommendations from the ERG report will be taken forward.
We will also be looking for their input into the communications plan for the launch and dissemination of the strategy, and the consultation on guidance for commissioners and providers, due in late 2010.
Mr. Walker: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps his Department is taking to ensure that the implementation of New Horizons will help meet the needs of people with autism who also have mental health problems. [307310]
Phil Hope: The New Horizons document recognises that there are many social groups who either engage less well with services or those who are at higher risk of developing mental health problems and of social exclusion.
The needs of people with mental health conditions who also have other issues such as those with a learning disability or autism will be further addressed as part of the developing programme of work.
"Valuing People Now" sets out the importance of enabling people with learning disabilities who have mental health support needs to get the appropriate assessment and treatment they require delivered in the right place. In particular, they need to be able to access mainstream mental health services. Strategic health authorities, primary care trusts and providers need to ensure that they commission services and develop care pathways that address the needs of people with learning disabilities who also have mental health support needs.
The Department is currently drafting a strategy for adults with autistic spectrum condition and will seek to ensure that this work is closely aligned to "New Horizons".
Copies of both documents have already been placed in the Library.
Basildon and Thurrock University Hospitals NHS Trust
Mr. Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many visits members of his Department have made to Basildon and Thurrock NHS Trust in the last five years; and what the date and purpose of each visit was. [307700]
Phil Hope: The Department keeps records of ministerial visits dating back to January 2007. The following ministerial visits were undertaken during the period January 2007-December 2009. To provide figures for visits by departmental officials would be possible only at disproportionate costs.
Cancer: Health Services
Peter Luff: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what auditing procedures are used to verify the quality and the consistency of the head and neck cancer treatment data received by the Three Counties Cancer Network from Gloucestershire Royal hospital. [307240]
Ann Keen: The information requested is not held centrally. The hon. Member may wish to approach Gloucestershire primary care trust, which is acting on behalf of the three counties cancer network, for this information directly.
Peter Luff: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the merits of a two-site head and neck cancer surgical centre model, based at Worcestershire Royal hospital and Gloucestershire Royal hospital; and if he will make a statement. [307241]
Ann Keen: No such assessment has been undertaken by the Department. It is for the three counties cancer network to plan and develop appropriate cancer services, including those relating to head and neck cancer, in the Gloucestershire, Herefordshire and Worcestershire areas.
Cancer: Leeds
John Battle: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the survival rate for patients with cancer at each hospital in Leeds was in each of the last 20 years. [306954]
Ann Keen: The information is not available in the format requested. Information on one-year and five-year survival rates for all cancers combined are not routinely produced. The "Cancer Reform Strategy's" second annual report, "Achieving Local Implementation", includes the latest one-year survival information on the number of cancer patients alive one year after diagnosis for the three major cancers, breast, colorectal and lung. A copy of the report has already been placed in the Library. The information that is available is shown in the following table:
| Leeds primary care trust (PCT) | |
| One-year survival rates (percentage) 2006 | |
| Notes: 1. The second annual report of the "Cancer Reform Strategy: Achieving Local Implementation", can be accessed via: www.dh.gov.uk/en/Publicationsandstatistics/Publications/PublicationsPolicyAndGuidance/DH_109338 2. The figures are for 2006, as this is the latest available from the national cancer information service. | |
Cannabis: Misuse
Mr. Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many (a) people and (b) people under 18 years old were treated for cannabis-induced psychosis in each of the last five years. [307362]
Phil Hope: Data are not collected centrally about how many people were treated for cannabis-induced psychosis each year because data counts patient episodes, not individual patient numbers, and individual patients may be seen more than once during each year.
Data are collected centrally about the number of finished hospital admission episodes for patients with a primary diagnosis of mental and behavioural disorders
due to use of cannabinoids, under the care of a mental health consultant. This information is shown in the following table.
Data are not collected centrally about the numbers treated for cannabis-related mental illness in primary care.
| Finished admission episodes with a primary diagnosis of mental and behavioural disorders due to use of cannabinoids: activity in English national health service hospitals and English NHS-commissioned activity in the independent sector 2004-05 to 2008-09 under consultant mental health specialties | |||||
| 2004-05 | 2005-06 | 2006-07 | 2007-08 | 2008-09 | |
| Source: Hospital Episode Statistics (HES), The NHS Information Centre for health and social care. | |||||
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