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27 Jan 2010 : Column 954W—continued
Hospitals: Admissions
Mr. Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate he has made of the number of people aged (a) between 0 and 15, (b) between 16 and 24, (c) between 25 and 39, (d) between 40 and 59 and (e) 60 years and over, who were admitted to hospital in December 2009 and January 2010 with conditions attributable to severe weather conditions. [313275]
Mr. Mike O'Brien: Data on hospital admissions directly attributable to weather conditions are not collected centrally.
The NHS Information Centre for health and social care publishes Hospital Episode Statistics, which includes hospital admissions in England.
Mental Health Services: Prisons
John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether he plans to review the management of mentally ill offenders within the prison system. [313060]
Phil Hope: The Government published 'Improving Health, Supporting Justice: the national delivery plan of the Health and Criminal Justice Programme Board' on 17 November 2009. A copy has already been placed in the Library. The plan responds to Lord Bradley's review of people with mental health problems or learning disability in the criminal justice system and describes a wide range of policies and activities to improve the services available for offenders with mental health problems including the delivery of health services for them while in prison.
Mental Illness
Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate he has made on the proportion of people who have a mental health disorder; and on what evidence his estimate is based. [313182]
Phil Hope: One in six adults has a common mental disorder at any one time. This estimate is based on the 2007 Survey of Psychiatric Morbidity Among Adults living in private households in England.
National Treatment Agency for Substance Misuse: Manpower
Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many staff the National Treatment Agency for Substance Misuse has employed in each year since its inception. [312904]
Gillian Merron: The National Treatment Agency for Substance Misuse (NTA) Annual Accounts from 2001-02 to 2008-09 record the number of staff employed by the NTA as:
| Number | |
The activities of the NTA have increased significantly since its inception in 2001-02.
The NTA's role and responsibilities now include the Integrated Drug Treatment System (IDTS), Drug Intervention Programme (DIP), National Drug Treatment Monitoring System (NDTMS), National Alcohol Treatment Monitoring System (NATMS), and it has increased its capacity to support local delivery, including providing guidance and support to Drug Action Teams, ensuring they are able to provide drug misusers with a full range of services, as well as monitoring performance.
NHS: ICT
Mrs. Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much the NHS spent on information technology in the last three financial years; how much of this money was spent on (a) software development and testing, (b) software applications, (c) staff training in information technology and (d) the cost of new hardware and software. [313692]
Mr. Mike O'Brien: The information requested is not held centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
NHS: Manpower
Norman Lamb: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 5 January 2010, Official Report, column 273W, on NHS: manpower, how many full-time equivalent (a) managers and (b) senior managers were in post in each (i) primary care trust and (ii) strategic health authority in each of the last five years. [313561]
Ann Keen: A table outlining the full-time equivalent number of managers and senior managers from 2004 to 2008 has been placed in the Library. The 2009 Workforce Census numbers are due to be released at the end of March.
NHS: Pay
Mr. Hepburn: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the average starting salary of an NHS doctor was in (a) Jarrow constituency, (b) South Tyneside, (c) the North East and (d) England in each year since 1997. [313379]
Ann Keen: Doctors are on national pay scales. For medical graduates entering their first post as a national health service doctor, the average starting in each year since 1997 is shown in the following table.
| Average starting salary of a newly qualified doctor | |
| £ | |
| Note: The starting salary quoted is for a new qualified doctor. Until 2006-07, this was known as a pre-registration house officer. This grade has since been replaced by a foundation house officer year 1. | |
Mr. Hepburn: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the average starting salary of an NHS nurse was in (a) Jarrow constituency, (b) South Tyneside, (c) the North East and (d) England in each year since 1997. [313380]
Ann Keen: The average starting salary of an NHS nurse since 1997 is shown in the following table. As nurses pay is set nationally this figure would have been the same in Jarrow constituency, South Tyneside, the North East and England.
| Year( 1) | Average starting salary (£)( 2, 3) |
| (1) As at 1 April each year. (2) The average starting salary of a NHS nurse is normally the minimum of the grade applicable to basic grade qualified nurses. (3) All the areas requested are covered by national pay schemes. | |
Mr. Hepburn: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the average starting salary of an NHS dentist was in (a) Jarrow constituency, (b) South Tyneside, (c) the North East and (d) England in each year since 1997. [313381]
Ann Keen: Information on average starting salaries for national health service dentists is not collected centrally.
Whilst there are opportunities for dentists to work as salaried employees of NHS trusts in both primary and secondary care roles, the majority of dentists provide primary dental care services within independent dental practices which contract with a primary care trust to provide NHS services. The remuneration arrangements for dentists working within the practice, either as the main contract holder or as partners, associates or employees of the practice owner, are an internal matter for the practice.
Prosthetics
Mr. Gray: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many prosthetic shoes have been rebuilt by the NHS for patients following leg operations in 2009-10; how many companies manufacture such shoes under contract with the NHS; with which such companies the NHS is in dispute over the contract; and if he will make a statement. [313038]
Phil Hope: Information on the number of prosthetic shoes is not collected centrally. There are four main prosthetic suppliers that provide clinical services and prosthetic components to the national health service within the United Kingdom and two others that supply prosthetic components only.
NHS contracts are agreed and managed locally, allowing organisations the ability to order direct or enter into contract with individual manufacturers and suppliers. Any contractual disputes will be resolved locally and central information about such issues are not collected.
Slough
Fiona Mactaggart: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will set out, with statistical information related as directly as possible to the Slough constituency, the effects on Slough of his Department's policies and actions since 2000. [311984]
Phil Hope: The Government have put in place a programme of national health service investment and reform since 1997 to improve service delivery in all parts of the United Kingdom. 93 per cent. of people nationally now rate the NHS as good or excellent. The "NHS Constitution" contains 25 rights and 14 pledges for patients and the public including new rights to be treated within 18 weeks, or be seen by a cancer specialist within two weeks and a NHS Health Check every five years for those aged 40-74 years.
There is significant evidence that these policies have yielded considerable benefits for the Slough constituency. For example:
Figures for October 2009 show that in Berkshire East Primary Care Trust (PCT):
92 per cent. of patients whose treatment involved admission to hospital started their treatment within 18 weeks.
97 per cent. of patients whose treatment did not involve admission to hospital started their treatment within 18 weeks.
In September 2009, at Heatherwood and Wexham Park Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, 98.6 per cent. of patients spent less than four hours in accident and emergency from arrival to admission, transfer or discharge.
Between September 1997 and September 2008, the number of consultants at Heatherwood and Wexham Park Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust has increased from 76 to 120. Between September 1997 and September 2008 the estimated number of nurses has increased from 1,154 to 1,386.
Between September 2001 and September 2008, the number of general practitioners per 100,000 within Berkshire East PCT has increased from 54.9 to 62.3.
96.8 per cent. of urgent GP referrals to Heatherwood and Wexham Park Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust with suspected cancer are seen by a specialist within two weeks of the referral.
Berkshire East PCT opened its GP-led health centre on 15 December 2009 at Upton Hospital in Slough. The Slough Walk-in Centre offers longer opening hours, meaning that any member of the public will be able to see a GP or nurse between 8 am and 8 pm, seven days a week, 365 days a year.
There are two private finance initiative (PFI) schemes in the area that serve this constituency: a £19 million PFI scheme from Berkshire West PCT that opened in March 2004 and a £30 million PFI scheme from Berkshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust that opened in April 2003.
Although statistical information is not available at a local level, Slough will have also benefited from national policies in other areas. For example:
Since 1997, gross current expenditure on personal social services has increased by around 70 per cent. in real terms, with around 105,000 households now receiving intensive home care and 3,076 new extra care housing units-exceeding the original target of 1,500 new extra care units.
Other strategies currently being implemented are:
Subject to parliamentary approval, the "Personal Care at Home Bill" will guarantee free personal care for 280,000 people with the highest needs and help around 130,000 people who need home care for the first time to regain their independence.
"Shaping the Future of Care Together" Green Paper, published in July 2009, sets out a vision of a National Care Service for all adults in England that is fair, simple and affordable. The Department has consulted widely on this reform and is currently analysing the responses, which will feed into a White Paper later this year.
The National Carer's Strategy-Carers at the heart of 21st century families and communities-launched in 2008.
The first National Dementia Strategy was published in February 2009.
"Valuing People Now"-a three year strategy for people with learning disabilities-was published in January 2009.
"New Horizons: A Shared Vision for Mental Health" was launched in December 2009 to maintain improvements in mental health services, combined with a new cross-Government approach to promoting public mental health.
Since 1998, there are now 2.4 million fewer smokers in England as a result of the Government's comprehensive tobacco control strategy, which has a measurable impact on reducing smoking prevalence.
Child obesity levels are reducing due to the efforts of families across England, supported by the Government's obesity strategy. In 2008, 13.9 per cent, of children (aged two to 10) in England were classified as obese, compared with 17.3 per cent. in 2005.
Overall, life expectancy at birth for men has increased from 74.5 years (1995-97 data) to 77.7 years (2006-08 data) while for women, life expectancy at birth has increased from 79.6 years (1995-97 data) to 81.9 years (2006-08 data).
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