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22 Feb 2010 : Column 140W—continued
NHS: Foreign Workers
Mr. Davey: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate he has made of the number of non-UK citizens working for the NHS in England; and if he will make a statement. [317720]
Ann Keen: These data are not collected centrally.
NHS: Marketing
Anne Main: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much his Department has spent on advertisements on television and commercial radio on NHS services since 2005. [317101]
Phil Hope: The following table shows the Department's television and radio advertising expenditure for the national health service over the last five completed financial years.
| Department of Health television and radio advertising spend on NHS services 2004-05 to 2008-09 | ||
| £ million | ||
| Financial year | Television | Radio |
| Notes: 1. Advertising spend is defined as covering only media spend (inclusive of agency commissions but excluding production costs, Central Office of Information (COI) commission and VAT). All figures exclude advertising rebates and audit adjustments and therefore may differ from COI official turnover figures. All figures are rounded to the nearest £10,000. These figures do not include the Department's recruitment/classified advertising costs and ad hoc spend under £10,000. These figures may include occasional minor spend through COI by NHS organisations, to supplement national campaigns in their area. While this expenditure has been excluded as far as possible so that this chart reflects central departmental spend, it would incur disproportionate cost to validate that every item of NHS expenditure has been removed. 2. 2009-10 figures are provisional until records are audited at the end of the financial year. | ||
NHS: Procurement
Dr. Iddon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment has been made of the effectiveness of a system of reverse e-auctions, weighted toward lowest price, for the procurement of NHS medical products in ensuring high standards of (a) safety and (b) quality of products procured. [316959]
Mr. Mike O'Brien: In 2008-09 NHS Supply Chain conducted 54 reverse auctions, which resulted in estimated savings of 15 per cent. on previous tender prices.
As with the standard tender process, all medical products are checked for safety and quality before they are entered into a reverse auction. Medical products in a reverse auction are the same as those available in the standard tender process.
We are not aware of any formal assessment of the effectiveness of the system of reverse auctions for the procurement of national health service medical products.
NHS: Training
Mr. David Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when he plans to publish guidance on commissioning skills for the NHS. [316314]
Mr. Mike O'Brien: The world class commissioning (WCC) programme was launched in December 2007 and is intended to strengthen the commissioning capability of primary care trusts (PCTs) to improve local health outcomes at best value for current and future service users. The competencies for world class commissioning were first published in December 2007 and refreshed in September 2009. They set out the knowledge, skills, behaviours and characteristics that underpin effective commissioning. PCTs are held to account on their commissioning performance through an annual assurance process. A copy of the WCC Assurance Handbook year 2, which details the competencies, has been placed in the Library and is available at:
Nurses
Anne Milton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether he has made an estimate of the number of registered nurses who were in receipt of benefits in each month for the last five years. [315074]
Jim Knight: I have been asked to reply.
The information is not available.
Nurses: Feltham
Alan Keen: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many nurses were employed in the area covered by Hounslow Primary Care Trust in (a) 1997 and (b) the latest period for which figures are available. [316689]
Gillian Merron: The information requested is displayed in the following table.
| National health service hospital and community health services: Qualified nursing staff in each specified organisation as at 30 September each year | |||||||
| Headcount | |||||||
| 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | |
| Note: Due to the formation of PCTs in 2002 it is impossible to accurately map work force figures for these organisations prior to 2002. Source: The Information Centre for health and social care Non-Medical Workforce Census. | |||||||
Nurses: Nottinghamshire
John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many qualified school nurses there are employed in schools in (a) Bassetlaw constituency and (b) Nottinghamshire local authority. [316726]
Ann Keen:
The information is not held in the format requested. Information is available for the number of
qualified nursing staff in the school nursing area of work directly employed by national health service organisations. The following table shows the number of qualified nursing staff in the school nursing area of work in Bassetlaw Primary Care Trust (PCT) and Nottinghamshire County PCT.
| NHS hospital and community health services, qualified school nursing | ||
| Headcount | ||
| Nurses in each specified organisation as at 30 September 2008 | ||
| Qualified nurses in school nursing | Of which qualified school nurses( 1) | |
| Notes: 1. Qualified school nurses hold the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) specialist practice qualification with an outcome in school nursing, which is a recordable qualification on the NMC register. 2. The NHS Hospital and Community Health Services non-medical workforce census is a large statistical exercise, collecting over one million records from over 400 organisations. It is not, and is not intended to be, carried out to exact accounting standards. Source: The Information Centre for health and social care: Non-Medical Workforce Census. | ||
Patients
Mr. Boswell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what steps he is taking to encourage appropriate self-care by patients in treatment of minor ailments; [317952]
(2) what steps his Department is taking to educate patients on circumstances where (a) self-care is appropriate in the treatment of a minor ailments and (b) it is appropriate to seek medical advice. [317953]
Mr. Mike O'Brien: Community pharmacies are very accessible to patients and the public and have a key role to play in supporting self-care-providing advice and support to people requesting help with the treatment of minor ailments, illnesses and injuries. This includes advising on the use of over-the-counter treatments, where appropriate, and when medical advice should be sought. The White Paper, "Pharmacy in England: Building on strengths-delivering the future", aims to increase pharmacies contribution to supporting effective self-care and make better use of the range of skills and services available in pharmacies.
NHS Choices and NHS Direct also offer facilities, such as online symptom checkers and self-assessment tools, to help people understand where self-care is appropriate in the treatment of minor ailments, and when they should seek advice from medical professionals.
Prescription Drugs
Mr. Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 1 February 2010, Official Report, columns 64-5W, on prescription drugs, what legal advice his Department sought in preparing the elements of the partial impact assessment relating to professional liability and automatic generic substitution; and if he will make a statement. [317846]
Mr. Mike O'Brien: Legal advice from the Department of Health Legal Services did inform the formulation of the consultation document on generic substitution, and the partial impact assessment relating to the proposals, but there are no specific elements in the partial impact assessment relating to professional liability.
Under the Department's preferred approach (option 3), there are mechanisms for ensuring that patients continue to receive the most appropriate treatment. Therefore, we believe the liability risks associated with the proposed generic substitution arrangements should not be any greater than under current prescribing and dispensing arrangements. We recognise that further evidence may be available in relation to liability; stakeholders can input views through responding to the consultation in writing-details at
or by attending one of the consultation events-more information at
Prescriptions
Christopher Fraser: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many prescriptions for (a) goserelin, (b) leuprorelin acetate, (c) buserelin acetate, (d) triptorelin, (e) bicalutamide, (f) flutamide, (g) cyproterone acetate and (h) diethylstilbestrol there were in (i) England, (ii) each primary care trust area and (iii) each constituency in each year since 1997. [317713]
Mr. Mike O'Brien: The information requested has been placed in the Library, apart from constituency information, which is not collected centrally.
The tables provide the number of prescription items dispensed in the community by primary care trust (PCT) and nationally. Usage in hospital is not collected at prescription level, and usage cannot be attributed to particular PCTs.
Prescriptions: Fees and Charges
Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what proportion of those with a diagnosis of asthma were exempt from paying prescription charges in the latest period for which figures are available. [316964]
Mr. Mike O'Brien: The Department does not hold information on the numbers of patients prescribed particular drugs or for what conditions those drugs are prescribed.
Kelvin Hopkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Health on what date the age at which men are entitled to free prescriptions will rise in line with the increase in the state retirement age for women; and if he will make a statement. [317925]
Mr. Mike O'Brien: The age at which people qualify for free prescriptions will change to reflect changes to the state pension age for women. We are considering how best to implement those changes and will not be introducing any changes to age exemptions in April 2010.
Primary Care Trusts
Mr. Swayne: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) if he will extend the deadline before which primary care trusts must name their preferred option for their future organisational structure for the purposes of his Transforming Community Services programme to a date later than the end of March 2010; [317021]
(2) what factors he took into account in determining the timetable for the Transforming Community Services programme; and if he will make a statement. [317022]
Mr. Mike O'Brien: There are no plans to extend the deadline set in the NHS Operating Framework 2010-11 for primary care trusts (PCTs) to agree their proposals for the future organisational form of all current PCT-provided community services with their strategic health authority.
When determining the timetable for planning and implementing proposals for the future form of PCT-provided community services, the Department took account of the need to create greater stability within community services to provide certainty for community service staff and a firm foundation for service transformation. Consideration was given to the pivotal role community services play in helping the national health service to meet the productivity and quality challenge. This will enable the NHS to accelerate service integration to deliver the vision of more integrated care delivered closer to home, as set out in NHS 2010-2015: from good to great. Preventative, people-centred, productive.
The Operating Framework 2010-11 and NHS 2010-2015: from good to great. Preventative, people-centred, productive have already been placed in the Library and are also available on the Department's website at:
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