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1 Mar 2010 : Column 872Wcontinued
Paul Rowen: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether he has made an estimate of the average unit cost per patient of (a) orthopaedic, (b) ear, nose and throat and (c) gynaecology and urology (i) assessment and (ii) treatment by (A) NHS hospitals and (B) the clinical assessment and treatment service operated by Care UK in Greater Manchester. [319834]
Mr. Mike O'Brien: The Department does not hold the information in the format requested. We will arrange for the information to be prepared and a table will be placed in the Library as soon as possible.
Andrew Mackinlay: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what discussions he has had with his counterpart in (a) Scotland, (b) Northern Ireland and (c) Wales on the modalities of and method for (i) recording and (ii) collecting charges from visitors from the Isle of Man who are detained and in receipt of emergency treatment in hospitals in (A) England, (B) Scotland, (C) Wales and (D) Northern Ireland consequent on the cancellation of the reciprocal health agreement between the Isle of Man and each UK health service with effect from 1 April 2010; and if he will make a statement; [319357]
(2) by what means he proposes to identify those visitors from the Isle of Man who are exempt from charges by virtue of (a) being in receipt of a UK state pension and having lived in the UK for 10 continuous years, (b) being a spouse or civil partner visiting the UK with an exempt UK state pensioner and (c) being a child visiting the UK with an exempt UK state pensioner following the cancellation of the reciprocal health agreement; and if he will make a statement; [319358]
(3) by what means it is proposed to (a) identify and (b) collect charges from visitors from the Isle of Man who are hospitalised whilst in the UK following the cancellation of the reciprocal health agreement on 1 April 2010; and if he will make a statement. [319360]
Gillian Merron: Under the national heath service (Charges to Overseas Visitors) Regulations 1989, as amended, trusts have a legal duty to identify and charge those overseas visitors to the United Kingdom who are not exempt from charges, and to make and recover from them charges for their treatment.
The Department has produced comprehensive guidance for the NHS to use when implementing these regulations, and most trusts have an Overseas Visitors Manager in post to oversee this. Trusts are advised to ask baseline questions to each patient to quickly identify if they have not lived lawfully in the UK for the past 12 months, and if they have not, to then interview them to establish if charges apply. It is a matter for individual trusts how they collect any charges that are due. The Department is contacting every trust informing them of the need to treat residents of the Isle of Man as overseas visitors from 1 April 2010 following the termination of the reciprocal healthcare agreement.
Following discussions with departmental officials, the Devolved Administrations are putting in place their own arrangements in order to inform their organisations of the changing circumstances.
Mr. Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many (a) general acute hospitals, (b) multi-service hospitals, (c) short-term non-acute hospitals, (d) long-stay hospitals, (e) specialist hospitals and (f) community hospitals there were in England according to the most recent Estates Return Information Collection data in each financial year from 1997-98 to 2008-09. [318186]
Mr. Mike O'Brien: The available information is shown in the following table but comes with a heavy caveat that definitions have changed over the years and a new category of 'Community Hospitals' has been introduced. These changes will have a significant effect on the numbers in categories and direct comparison year on year therefore will not be valid.
Number of sites | |||||||
General acute hospitals | Multiservice hospitals | Short-term non-acute hospitals | Long-stay hospitals | Specialist hospitals | Community hospitals | Total | |
Data on national health service sites were not collected by the estates related information collection before 2000-01. Data on multi-service hospitals and specialist hospitals were not collected before 2001-02 and community hospital data were not collected before 2006-07. With the introduction of additional categories, hospitals in one category may have been moved to another.
Until 2003-04, the provision of these data was mandatory for all NHS organisations. From 2004-05 onwards, provision of these data was mandatory for NHS organisations but voluntary for NHS foundation trusts, therefore, the data for this period may be incomplete.
The data are presented as provided by the NHS and have not been amended centrally. Any inherent errors in the data will not have been corrected and questions regarding their accuracy should be addressed to the organisations concerned.
Since 2000, 118 new hospital schemes have opened.
Norman Lamb: To ask the Secretary of State for Health who will be responsible under the Modernising Scientific Careers programme for (a) funding and (b) delivering audiology training courses. [318254]
Ann Keen: Higher education institutions in partnership with strategic health authorities and service providers will provide the new education and training programmes.
Jim Cousins: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what contracts the NHS has with the United Health Group and its subsidiaries. [318827]
Mr. Mike O'Brien: This information is not held centrally.
Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many sexual health clinics in each primary care trust have obtained accreditation under his Department's "You're Welcome" scheme. [318585]
Gillian Merron: The following table outlines how many sexual health services in each primary care trust (PCT) have "You're Welcome" accreditation, and how many have met the criteria but are awaiting accreditation.
Mr. Sanders: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will bring forward proposals to provide the spectacles required by (a) children and (b) those on low incomes who have Irlen syndrome at no cost to the recipient. [318663]
Ann Keen: Optical vouchers to help with the purchase of glasses or contact lenses with a prescription power are available to children and to those on low incomes or in receipt of benefits.
Where a child experiences symptoms associated with descriptions of Meares Irlen syndrome the child's parents or carer should discuss the problem with the school and consult an optometrist to ensure that they do not overlook the possibility of refractive error or eye disease underlying the difficulty. If, after a sight test (and supply of glasses if necessary), a child is still experiencing difficulties then a wider assessment is called for.
The best interests of children are likely to be served by a scheme of assessment and treatment, provided in agreement between local health and education services, which takes into account the full range of possible ways of helping children with the symptoms associated with descriptions of Irlen syndrome.
Mr. Bain: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what the outcomes were of his recent discussions with the government of Bangladesh, with particular reference to the £60 million of Government funding for mitigation of the impact of global warming in Bangladesh. [318611]
Mr. Thomas:
Officials of the Department for International Development (DFID) are in regular contact with representatives of the Government of Bangladesh. A senior official represented DFID at the Bangladesh Development Forum meeting, held in Dhaka on 15 and
16 February. During this meeting the Government of Bangladesh confirmed their wish to establish a Multi-Donor Trust Fund for Climate Change. Decisions on how the fund will be allocated will be led by the Government of Bangladesh, which will also be responsible for implementing projects supported by the fund. The World Bank will provide technical advice and financial management. The UK, the European Union and Denmark will provide grants to the fund.
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