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7 Jan 2010 : Column 618W—continued


Multiple Sclerosis

Mark Hunter: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what recent estimate his Department has made of the number of people with multiple sclerosis. [308378]

Ann Keen: The National Service Framework for long-term neurological conditions, published in 2005, estimated there were between 52-62,000 people in the United Kingdom with this condition.

Multiple Sclerosis: Nurses

Mark Hunter: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many nurses specialise in caring for people with multiple sclerosis. [308379]

Ann Keen: This nurse specialty is not identified separately on the NHS work force census.


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NHS: Internet

Mr. Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many websites have the suffix nhs.uk in their web address. [307941]

Mr. Mike O'Brien: As at 15 December 2009, there were 6,004 live United Kingdom websites with the nhs.uk suffix. 3,985 of these were live records within the English national health service web estate. The remainder have been allocated by the devolved Administrations.

These numbers are constantly changing as new websites are created and old websites decommissioned.

Nottingham Hospital: Manpower

Mr. Allen: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many (a) doctors and (b) nurses were employed at Nottingham City Hospital in (i) 1997 and (ii) 2009. [308496]

Ann Keen: The information is not available in the format requested. However, data for the Nottingham University Hospitals National Health Service Trust are set out in the following table.

NHS hospital and community health services: qualified nursing staff and medical and dental staff within specified organisations 1997 to 2008
Headcount
As at 30 September each year

1997 2008

Qualified Nursing staff

3,099

3,770

Nottingham City Hospital NHS Trust

1,442

n/a

Queens Medical Centre, Nottingham University NHS Trust

1,657

n/a

Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust

-

3,770

Medical and Dental staff

967

1,371

Nottingham City Hospital NHS Trust

371

n/a

Queens Medical Centre, Nottingham University NHS Trust

596

n/a

Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust

-

1,371

n/a = Not applicable.
Note:
In 2006 Nottingham City Hospital NHS Trust merged with Queens Medical Centre Nottingham University NHS Trust to become Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust. Therefore data have been provided for Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust in 2008 and its component parts in 1997.
Data Quality
Workforce statistics are compiled from data sent by more than 300 NHS trusts and primary care trusts in England. The Information Centre for health and social care liaises closely with these organisations to encourage submission of complete and valid data and seeks to minimise inaccuracies and the effect of missing and invalid data. Processing methods and procedures are continually being updated to improve data quality. Where this happens any impact on figures already published will be assessed but unless this is significant at national level they will not be changed. Where there is impact only at detailed or local level this will be footnoted in relevant analyses.
Source:
Medical and Dental Workforce Census, The Information Centre for health and social care

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Offenders

Chris Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many employees of his Department and its agencies have been convicted of a criminal offence of each type in each year since 1997. [308515]

Phil Hope: The Department has no central records of any members of staff of the core Department who have been convicted of a criminal offence while a serving civil servant since 1997.

Where such reports as these involve less than five cases, the Department follows Cabinet Office guidelines and does not publicly report specific figures on the grounds of confidentiality. With such small numbers the individuals concerned might be personally identified with possible legal consequences. A number of such cases have occurred in the Department's agencies but the total number of those cases are less than five.

Social Services

Mr. Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether he plans to limit the entitlement available to those in receipt of (a) attendance allowance and (b) disability living allowance under proposals for reform of the social care system. [308782]

Phil Hope: If disability benefits for older people are reformed as part of the National Care Service, those receiving the affected benefits at the time of reform would continue to receive the same level of cash support. We will give more details about the National Care Service offer in our White Paper later this year.

Mr. Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 14 December 2009, Official Report, column 762W, on social services, if he will publish the elements of the micro-simulation model which provided the figures on the number of individuals whose needs are critical. [309124]

Phil Hope: I refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave to him on 10 December 2009, Official Report, column 552W.

Mr. Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 10 December 2009, Official Report, columns 553-4W, on social services, in what month those discussions and clearances took place. [309125]

Phil Hope: These discussions and clearances took place between early September and November 2009.

Mr. Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 9 December 2009, Official Report, column 495W, on social services, what methodology was used to calculate the (a) residential and (b) informal care switchers. [309126]

Phil Hope: I refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave him on 14 December 2009, Official Report, column 763W.


7 Jan 2010 : Column 621W

Social Services: Reform

Mr. Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) whether the implementation of his plans for the NHS in respect of social care provision will require legislation; [309288]

(2) whether social care provision commissioned by primary care trusts will be exempt from means-testing; [309289]

(3) what powers he plans to provide for NHS commissioners to commission social care; [309290]

(4) what uplift he expects each primary care trust to receive consequent on the takeover of social care provision by primary care trusts; [309291]

(5) what plans he has to transfer (a) control over provision and (b) responsibility for funding of social care to primary care trusts; [309362]

(6) what plans he has for the future role of the NHS in respect of control over provision of social care; and if he will make a statement. [309363]

Phil Hope: Both "NHS 2010-15; good to great", a copy of which has already been placed in the Library, and "The NHS operating framework for England for 2010/11" emphasised the importance of the NHS working
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together with its partners to deliver joined-up services around people's needs and support people to stay healthy and independent. Neither document suggested structural changes to accountability or governance.

A copy of the framework has been placed in the Library.

Surgery: Greater London

Mr. Evennett: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people in the London borough of (a) Bexley, (b) Bromley and (c) Greenwich underwent elective surgery in the last three years for which figures are available. [308502]

Mr. Mike O'Brien: Information is not collected in the format requested. However, the following table shows the number of finished consultant episodes (FCEs) in which an elective procedure or intervention, including but not limited to elective surgery, was performed. A finished consultant episode is a continuous period of admitted patient care under one consultant within one health care provider. Figures do not represent the number of different patients, since one patient may have more than one episode of care within the same stay at hospital, or in different stays within the same year.

Count of finished consultant episodes where a main elective procedure or intervention was performed at Bexley, Bromley and Greenwich Primary Care Trust of responsibility from 2006-07 to 2008-09
FCEs where an elective procedure or intervention was performed

Bexley PCT Bromley PCT Greenwich PCT

2008-09

25,073

45,177

26,982

2007-08

23,585

38,565

26,170

2006-07

23,824

34,937

25,565

Notes:
1. Commissioning responsibility for individual patients rests with the primary care trust (PCT) with whom the patient is registered. This means that patients with a general practitioner (GP) in one PCT area may reside in a neighbouring or other area but remain the responsibility of the PCT with whom their GP of registration is associated. PCTs are also responsible for non-registered patients who are resident within their boundaries.
2. A main elective procedure or intervention is the first recorded procedure or intervention in each episode, usually the most resource intensive procedure or intervention performed during the episode.
Source:
Hospital Episode Statistics (HES), The NHS Information Centre for health and social care

Surgery: Nottingham

Mr. Allen: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many surgical operations were carried out on the NHS in Nottingham North constituency in (a) 1997 and (b) 2008. [308495]

Mr. Mike O'Brien: This information is not available in the format requested. Data on finished consultant episodes(1) (FCEs) are collected by primary care trust (PCT) of responsibility(2), the commissioning PCT, not by constituency.

The number of FCEs where there was a main procedure(3) with Nottingham City as the PCT of responsibility in 2008-08 and 1997-98 is shown in the following table. This includes activity in national health service hospitals in England and English NHS commissioned activity in the independent sector.

Finished consultant episodes

2008-09

46,357

1997-98

39,152

Source:
Hospital Episode Statistics, The Information Centre for health and social care

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Surgery: Obesity

Norman Lamb: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many surgical procedures to treat obesity were carried out on the NHS in (a) England, (b) each region and (c) each strategic health authority area in each year since 1997. [308091]

Gillian Merron: Data on finished consultant episodes with a primary diagnosis of obesity as well as a main or
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secondary procedure of bariatric surgery for England and each health authority or regional area are provided in the following table. Data are available for each year from 1997-98 to 2008-09.

The NHS Information Centre has provided slightly revised data to those previously provided for the years 1997-98 to 2006-07 following a revision of the definition of bariatric surgery.


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