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24 Jun 2010 : Column 325W—continued
The European Commission has indicated that discussions will continue at working group level later in 2010. A date has not been set for publication by the European Commission of proposals for maximum permitted levels for vitamins and minerals in food supplements under the provisions of article 5 of the food supplements directive. An impact assessment is being prepared according to cabinet office guidelines, which will include economic
impact to UK businesses; the assessment will be completed when the maximum European Commission's proposal on permitted levels for vitamins and minerals is published. The impact assessment is made at the UK level and does not consider individual counties or towns separately. The impact assessment will form part of a public consultation on the proposals.
Drugs and Alcoholic Drinks: Rehabilitation
Mark Lazarowicz: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps he plans to take to improve health outcomes for those treated for alcohol or drug abuse. [3326]
Anne Milton: Alcohol and drugs are major public health issues. In England, primary care trusts (PCTs) are responsible for arranging to meet the local needs of those with alcohol and/or drug related problems and ensuring that services commissioned are of the required quality.
We are determined to help the national health service ensure effective commissioning of services, focusing on good outcomes from treatment, including that for alcohol and drug problems. We will set out our plans in more detail in the coming months.
The Department's Alcohol Improvement Programme supports the NHS to help them commission improvements in alcohol prevention and treatment, through:
guidance on effective commissioning and treatment;
data from the National Alcohol Treatment Monitoring System and local alcohol profiles for England to help PCTs understand local need in relation to alcohol harm; and
a National Support Team for Alcohol, providing support in areas with the highest rates of alcohol-related hospital admissions.
Together the Department, the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence and the National Treatment Agency for Substance Misuse (NTA) have produced a comprehensive suite of evidence-based guidance on drug treatment for those commissioning and delivering services.
To improve the availability, capacity and effectiveness of treatment for drug misuse in England, the NTA provides drug service providers with practical support and encouragement, while data from the National Drug Treatment Monitoring System allows PCTs to more accurately plan and target resources for their drug misuse services.
We will be conducting a full review of sentencing policy to ensure that it is effective and that sentencing for drug use helps offenders to come off drugs. We will also explore alternative forms of secure, treatment-based accommodation for drugs offenders.
Hospitals
Mr Iain Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate he has made of the optimum population size which general hospitals should serve. [4105]
Anne Milton: Each community in England is unique in terms of its population, their distribution and health needs. Therefore, national health service organisations design their facilities to best respond to these local health needs to deliver high quality care. Centrally linking population size and hospital types would therefore fail to provide the service the public deserve.
Mr Iain Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what his policy is on (a) specialist centres of excellence and (b) general district hospitals. [4106]
Mr Lansley: We believe that patients should have access to the right treatment, at the right place and at the right time. We require that quality health care services reflect considerations of safety, quality standards and access. We believe services should be locally accessible wherever possible; and centralised where necessary. Judgments about this balance must, as I made clear in my statement of 21 May, take full account of clinical evidence, public engagement, general practitioner commissioning and referral intentions, and the current and prospective pattern of patient choice.
Hospitals: Buildings
Mr Iain Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the clinical outcomes for patients in hospital buildings that are older than 10 years. [4103]
Anne Milton: The national health service delivers patient services in buildings from a wide range of ages. The NHS is expected to ensure that its buildings are functionally suitable to deliver safe and high quality care, regardless of when they were built.
North Tees and Hartlepool NHS Foundation Trust
Mr Iain Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what is the estimated (a) reactive and (b) planned repairs and maintenance cost for the (i) University Hospital of Hartlepool and (ii) University Hospital of North Tees in each of the next three years. [4104]
Mr Lansley: The information is not available in the format requested. The information that is available is shown in the following table.
| Backlog maintenance data for the university hospital of Hartlepool and the university hospital of North Tees for 2008-09 | ||
| University hospital of Hartlepool | University hospital of North Tees | |
| Notes: 1. National health service organisations are locally responsible for the provision and maintenance of their facilities. This includes planning and investment to reduce backlog maintenance. This data has not been amended centrally and its accuracy is the responsibility of the contributing NHS organisations. 2. Backlog maintenance is the capital investment required to bring a trust's estate up to an appropriate standard. The latest available data is for 2008-09, which has been provided in the table. 3. High risk backlog maintenance is defined as urgent priority work needed to prevent catastrophic failure, major disruption to clinical services or deficiencies resulting in serious injury or prosecution. 4. Significant risk backlog maintenance is defined as work that requires short-term expenditure but can be effectively managed to avoid risk to health care services or concern to enforcement bodies. 5. Moderate risk backlog maintenance is defined as work that requires close control and monitoring but can be managed in the medium term. 6. Low risk backlog maintenance is defined as work that can be addressed through agreed maintenance programmes or through strategic plans. Source: Estates Returns Information Collection (ERIC) 2008-09 | ||
Patients: Per Capita Costs
Mr Iain Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the average cost of admission to hospital per patient was at (a) the University Hospital of Hartlepool, (b) the University Hospital of North Tees, (c) James Cook University Hospital and (d) all hospitals in England in the latest period for which figures are available. [4102]
Mr Lansley: The information is not collected centrally. However, it is possible to estimate the average cost of each episode of admitted patient care under a consultant using information collected in national health service reference costs, most recently covering the financial year 2008-09. Figures are provided in the table for these NHS organisations and for England. Data for all NHS organisations in England are available from the Department's website at:
| Table: Average cost of admitted patient care under the care of a consultant in 2008-09 | |
| Average unit cost per finished consultant episode (FCE) | |
| Notes: 1. The figures in the table are derived from organisation level reference costs and from schedule 1 (NHS trusts) of the 2008-09 national schedules of reference costs. 2. The figures were calculated by summing the product of activity (FCEs and excess bed days) and average unit costs, and dividing by total FCEs, for all health care resource groups in the day case, elective inpatient and non-elective inpatient schedules. 3. FCEs are the unity of activity for reference costs and cover a patient's period in the care of a consultant in hospital. There may be more than one FCE during a patient's spell of care between admission and discharge. 4. The figures are rounded to the nearest £100. 5. University Hospital of Hartlepool and University Hospital of North Tees are part of North Tees and Hartlepool NHS Foundation Trust. 6. James Cook University Hospital is part of South Tees Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. | |
Women and Equalities
Civil Partnerships
Mr Bain: To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities what discussions she has had with leaders of religious groups on the Government's policy on allowing same-sex couples to register relationships in a religious setting. [4163]
Lynne Featherstone: The Government published "Working for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Equality" on 16 June 2010. This document sets out a programme of work to tackle discrimination and ensure equal opportunities for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender people.
It confirms our support for civil partnerships and sets out our commitment to
"talk to those with a key interest in this issue about what the next stage should be for civil partnerships, including how some religious organisations can allow same-sex couples the opportunity to register their relations in a religious setting is they wish to do so".
We will be talking with leaders of religious groups as part of this process.
Education
Academies: GCSE
Tristram Hunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what proportion of year 11 pupils at (a) academy schools and (b) each academy school obtained at least five GCSEs at A*-C grade, excluding equivalents in 2008-09 in (i) any subject and (ii) including English and mathematics. [2786]
Mr Gibb: The information requested is presented in the following table:
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