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14 Jun 2010 : Column 262W—continued
Community Nurses: Travel
Geoffrey Clifton-Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate he has made of the average number of miles travelled by community nurses in the latest period for which figures are available. [1401]
Anne Milton: No estimate has been made centrally.
Continuing Care
Lisa Nandy: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when he plans to publish details of the Government's proposed commission on long-term care; whether he intends to ensure that all political parties are represented on the commission; and what consultation he intends to undertake on these matters prior to the appointment of the commission. [1737]
Mr Burstow: Details of the terms of reference and membership of the commission on funding long-term care will be published shortly.
Union Flag
Ian Austin: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what his policy is on flying the Union flag each day from each official building for which his Department is responsible. [1812]
Mr Simon Burns: The Department for Culture, Media and Sport issues guidance for the flying of the Union flag on United Kingdom Government buildings. The guidance encourages the Union flag to be flown 365 days a year, and as a minimum all Departments must fly the Union Flag on 19 special designated days, e.g. Queen's birthday, Remembrance day, etc., and other special occasions as required, e.g. State Opening of Parliament.
The Department of Health flies the Union flag at its official headquarters building, Richmond House in Whitehall 365 days of the year.
Departmental Manpower
Mr Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many (a) front line and (b) other staff were employed by (i) his Department and (ii) each of its agencies in the latest year for which figures are available; and what his most recent estimate is of the annual cost to the public purse of employing staff of each type at each of those bodies. [538]
Mr Simon Burns: The Department does not employ front-line staff. Its Executive Agency, the Medicines Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), has defined some front-line staff in its core public health operating functions of medicines licensing, pharmacovigilance, inspections, enforcement and its various devices functions as front line.
As at 31 March 2009, the core Department employed 2,630 whole time equivalent civil servants. As at 31 March 2009, the MHRA employed 901 whole time equivalent civil servants. According to its definitions, the MHRA employs 366 front-line whole time equivalent civil servants and 535 'other', whole time equivalent civil servants.
The cost of the core Department's paybill during the 2009-10 financial year was £151.9 million. The MHRA has estimated the annual cost to the public purse of the MHRA employing staff of each type during the 2009-10 financial year was £19.3 million for front-line staff and £33.2 million for 'other' staff.
Since 31 March 2010 there has been only one Executive Agency of the Department: the MHRA.
Departmental Mobile Phones
Mr Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health which Ministers in his Department have been issued with (a) a BlackBerry, (b) an iPhone, (c) another make of mobile telephone and (d) a personal digital assistant supplied by the Department. [1428]
Mr Simon Burns: The only mobile telecoms or personal digital assistant devices that have been issued to Ministers of the Department are BlackBerry devices. These have been provided to Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Anne Milton) and Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Earl Howe). The Department does not issue Apple iPhones to staff as these are not approved for Government use by the CESG. CESG is the Information Assurance arm of GCHQ which aims to protect and promote the vital interests of the United Kingdom by providing advice and assistance on the security of communications and electronic data.
Departmental Official Hospitality
John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what budget his Department has allocated for entertainment, including alcohol, in each of the next three years. [1316]
Mr Simon Burns: The Department does not allocate budgets for entertainment, including alcohol. The Department's business rules prohibit the use of departmental funds for providing entertainment.
Departmental Official Residences
Ian Austin: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether any domestic properties in the gift of the Government have been allocated to the use of Ministers in his Department. [1785]
Mr Simon Burns: No domestic properties in the gift of the Government have been allocated for use by Ministers at the Department.
Departmental Translation Services
Ian Austin: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate he has made of the cost to the public purse of translating information distributed in the UK by (a) his Department and (b) its associated public bodies into languages other than English in the latest period for which figures are available. [1717]
Mr Simon Burns: The total expenditure on translation of departmental leaflets and publications in England in the 2009-10 financial year was £327,532.83. This was significantly higher than in the 2008-09 financial year, for which the total expenditure was £130,020.00.
The translation costs for 2009-10 include a number of exceptional, one-off requirements, including translating essential swine flu information.
To research the costs for all associated public bodies would incur disproportionate costs.
Food Poisoning
Mr Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps he is taking to reduce the incidence of food poisoning, with particular reference to the incidence during the summer months. [2309]
Anne Milton: The Food Standards Agency (FSA) undertakes a range of activities designed to reduce the incidence of food poisoning. These include:
The Foodborne Disease Strategy-a programme for reducing foodborne illness by targeting those pathogens that cause the greatest incidence and burden of disease in the United Kingdom. This programme includes the FSA Food Hygiene Campaign, designed to raise consumer awareness of food safety issues and good food hygiene practices;
The Food Hygiene Delivery Programme-set up to address the recommendations of the report of the Public Inquiry into the 2005 South Wales outbreak of E. coli 0157. A primary aim of this programme is to improve awareness and control of food safety hazards by food businesses, food law enforcers and consumers;
Provision of a range of guidance and resources to help catering businesses (particularly small businesses) to comply with the requirements of food hygiene legislation;
Development of a Food Hygiene Ratings Scheme (also known as 'scores on doors') to provide consumers with information on hygiene standards in food premises and encourage these businesses to improve their standards; and
Delivery of official food and feed controls and support for other Government Departments and local authorities' enforcement of food and feed hygiene and food standards.
The number of cases of foodborne illness shows a seasonal summer peak, between May and September. Most cases are due to Campylobacter, which has been identified as a priority organism for action in the FSA's Foodborne Disease Strategy. The FSA is working in partnership with industry and retail stakeholders to develop and implement interventions to reduce Campylobacter in chicken.
The FSA's Food Hygiene Campaign has been running since 2001 to raise awareness and increase understanding of food hygiene by consumers. The campaign's varied activities have included seasonal activity to address the rise in cases that occurs each summer, focusing on safe summer eating including barbecuing. UK Food Safety Week, a focus for the promotion of food hygiene messages, is held in June each year and has been co-ordinated by the FSA since 2007.
General Practitioners
Tony Baldry: To ask the Secretary of State for Health by what mechanism the relationship between GP commissioning and the commissioning of services by primary care trusts is managed. [1685]
Mr Simon Burns: I refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave to him on 8 June 2010, Official Report, column 112W, and to the hon. Member for St Ives (Andrew George) on 2 June 2010, Official Report, column 41W.
Tony Baldry: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what mechanism he intends to establish for the operation of GP commissioning. [1707]
Mr Simon Burns: I refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave him on 8 June 2010, Official Report, column 112W.
Gosport War Memorial Hospital
Caroline Dinenage: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the operational status is of the oncology clinic at Gosport War Memorial Hospital. [2203]
Mr Burstow: This information is not held centrally. However, the Department is informed by the South Central Strategic Health Authority (SHA) that Hampshire Primary Care Trust (PCT) has temporarily suspended the oncology clinic at Gosport War Memorial Hospital due to staff shortages. The PCT aims to reinstate the sessions as soon as possible. The PCT has assured the Department that its overriding responsibility for patient safety is maintained at all times. The hon. Member may wish to contact South Central SHA for further information.
Health Professions
Tony Baldry: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many (a) academic clinical fellowships and (b) clinical lectureships are funded by the NHS annually; and whether he plans to change the number of such posts so funded. [1682]
Mr Simon Burns: Each year the Department provides funding, through the National Institute for Health Research, for some 250 academic clinical fellowships and 100 post-doctoral clinical lectureships. There are no plans at the current time to change this.
Hospitals: Food
John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what guidelines are in place for the provision of hospital meals to patients with (a) kosher, (b) halal, (c) vegetarian, (d) vegan and (e) other dietary requirements. [1767]
Mr Simon Burns: The Department does not provide specific guidelines about provision of these types of meals. However, the Care Quality Commission's publication, "Essential Standards of Quality and Safety"(1) sets out standards of quality that patients have a right to expect in hospital, including those relating to food. In meeting such standards, it requires providers who comply with the regulations(2) to provide choices of food and drink for people to meet their diverse needs, making sure it is nutritionally balanced and supports their health. In particular, patients should have a choice for each meal that takes account of their individual preferences and needs, including religious and cultural requirements.
Menus are devised and managed by hospital trusts locally. Trusts' catering functions have access to professional advice from hospital dieticians. In addition, information and good practice illustrations about delivering specific meals types are available to the national health service through a range of guidance material, in particular, via the Hospital Caterers Association website(3), which accommodates the dish selector guidance and other detailed support to the local NHS.
(1) Published by The Care Quality Commission March 2010.
(2) The guidance relates to providers of services that carry "regulated activities". These are defined in the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2009.
Hospitals: Waiting Lists
Mr Evennett: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what his most recent estimate is of average waiting times for hospital treatment in (a) Bexleyheath and Crayford constituency, (b) the London Borough of Bexley and (c) Greater London. [1898]
Mr Simon Burns: The information is not collected in the format requested. The information that is available is shown in the following table.
| Average (median) waiting times from referral to treatment (weeks) | ||
| Admitted patients | Non-admitted patients | |
| Notes: 1. Figures reflect average waiting times for patients treated during the month. 2. Waiting time is from referral to first definitive treatment. 3. Admitted figures are on an adjusted basis, i.e. excluding periods of delay introduced as a result of patients turning down offers of admissions made with reasonable notice. 4. The latest published Referral to Treatment data are for March 2010. Source: Department Monthly Referral to Treatment Return | ||
Mental Health Services: Children
Simon Reevell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) how many child and adolescent psychoanalytic psychotherapists have qualified in each of the last five years; and if he will make a statement; [2317]
(2) how many child and adolescent psychoanalytic psychotherapists worked in each region in the NHS in each of the last five years; and if he will make a statement. [2318]
Mr Simon Burns: The information requested is not collected by the Department.
Simon Reevell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many child and adolescent psychoanalytic psychotherapists he estimates will work in each region of the NHS in each of the next two years; and if he will make a statement. [2319]
Mr Simon Burns: The information requested is not collected by the Department.
Local national health service organisations are best placed to decide what staff are needed that best serve the needs of their local populations and recruit and train the staff required.
NHS: Finance
Mr Ellwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what percentage of the total health budget was spent on (a) primary and (b) secondary care in the latest period for which figures are available. [2126]
Mr Simon Burns: In 2008-09, 22% of the Department's revenue expenditure was on primary care, and 63.5% on secondary care. These percentages are calculated using summarised primary care trust accounts 2008-09, and final reported outturn expenditure.
NHS: Standards
Heidi Alexander: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what each primary care trust scored in the Care Quality Commission's most recent assessment of performance on delayed transfers of care; and what vital signs data are available for each such trust in each of the last 12 quarters. [1621]
Mr Simon Burns: The Care Quality Commission (CQC) uses delayed transfers of care as an indicator within its periodic review of primary care trusts.
The CQC's 2008-09 delayed transfers of care scores are shown in the following table.
A complete set of quarterly vital signs data is not held centrally.
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