Energy: Business
Nia Griffith: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change whether he has had discussions with the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills on the effects on energy-intensive industries of the Government's proposals for electricity market reform and a carbon price support. [41737]
Charles Hendry: DECC Ministers discuss issues relating to energy policy on a regular basis with ministerial colleagues, including questions relating to energy intensive industries.
The Department is working jointly with the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills on a review of the impact of climate change and energy policies on energy intensive users and I aim to publish findings of the review in the spring.
Environment Protection
Mr Bain: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what recent discussions he has had with the Chancellor of the Exchequer on the Government's policy on the recommendations of the UN Environment Programme report, Towards a Green Economy. [43692]
Gregory Barker: The Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change has regular meetings with the Chancellor of the Exchequer at which the significant contribution that green growth can make to the future prosperity of the UK is a regular topic. The UN Environment Programme's report, ‘Towards a Green Economy’, is one of a number of studies that demonstrate this. Its policy recommendations provide further support for Government policy, especially on the need for a strong policy framework to support low-carbon technologies, like renewables and carbon capture and storage, and improvements in energy efficiency.
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Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change if he will estimate the cost to the public purse of the tripling of total installed capacity by 2050 indicated in Part 3 of the Revised Draft Overarching National Policy Statement for Energy. [44430]
Gregory Barker: In July the Department published the 2050 Pathways report, which as well as presenting the assumptions lying behind the 2050 Calculator, calculated high-level costs in the large scale power generation sector for six illustrative pathways. The analysis set out cost figures for the physical capital; fixed and variable operating costs; fuel; nuclear decommissioning and waste; and infrastructure (such as the electricity transmission and distribution network). It does not consider the cost of financing, carbon, electricity imports, research and development, behavioural change or wider macro-economic impacts. Each of these pathways showed a marked increase in electricity demand, up to a doubling in some cases.
The six illustrative pathways that reached the 2050 target involve a shift from expenditure on fuel, such as fossil fuels, to upfront expenditure on capital, such as building low carbon power plants. Compared with a reference case where little action is taken to address climate change, average annual fuel costs are £5-12 billion lower in six illustrative pathways over the period to 2050, while average annual capital costs for the same period are £7-17 billion per year higher. The annual fuel costs are undiscounted, and the relative costs of the high and low carbon pathways are heavily dependent on the assumptions made about technology costs and fossil fuel prices.
As promised in the July publication, the Department is continuing to explore this area in further detail, and will publish an updated version of the Calculator including costs data later this year. Respondents to our Call for Evidence in October indicated strong public support for this course of action.
Further detailed analysis looking at the cost of electricity generation in the short- and medium-term is being carried out in conjunction with the Electricity Market Reform project, which is to report later in the year.
Fuel Poverty
Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change if he will estimate the number of households that spent (a) 9 per cent., (b) 8 per cent. and (c) 7 per cent. of their income to achieve a satisfactory heating regime as defined in the 2001 UK fuel poverty strategy. [43704]
Gregory Barker: A household is said to be in fuel poverty if it needs to spend more than 10% of its income on fuel to maintain an adequate standard of warmth, as such fuel poverty measures required spending rather than actual spending. This definition of fuel expenditure also includes spending on water heating, lights and appliance usage and cooking costs. The following table shows the number of households in England in 2008, the latest year for which this information is available, which were required to spend between 7 and 10% of their income to achieve an adequate standard of warmth.
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| Percentage of income required to spend on energy | Number of households (Thousand) |
Smart Electricity Grid
Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what discussions he has had with the Department of Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport on the allocation of spectrum for smart electricity grid purposes. [41771]
Charles Hendry: The Department has not met with the Department for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport to discuss allocation of spectrum for smart electricity grid purposes, though officials in the two Departments have discussed the broadband policy process and industry views on infrastructure sharing.
Treasury
Air Passenger Duty
Steve Baker: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of the levels of air passenger duty in relation to aviation taxation regimes in other countries in the EU and G20; and if he will make a statement. [43439]
Justine Greening: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given on 22 November 2010, Official Report, column 83W, to the hon. Member for Central Suffolk and North Ipswich (Dr Poulter)
Capital Allowance Scheme
Andrew George: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether his Department plans to expand the enhanced capital allowance scheme to increase the use of remanufactured energy-saving equipment. [43731]
Justine Greening: All taxes are kept under review and announcements on tax policy are made at Budget. The ECA scheme for energy efficient products is reviewed and updated annually by DECC. Only new technologies qualify for an enhanced capital allowance relief.
Departmental Food
Mr Bain: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when he expects his Department to meet the Government’s commitment to source food that meets British or equivalent standards of production. [43320]
Justine Greening: Catering services for the Treasury building are supplied by a sub-contractor to Exchequer Partnerships, the Treasury’s PFI supplier. The services provided were accredited by Assured Food Standards in July 2010, enabling them to display the Red Tractor logo within establishments where they provide a catering service.
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Departmental Location
Simon Kirby: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will bring forward proposals to relocate (a) staff and (b) offices of his Department to Brighton; and if he will make a statement. [43480]
Justine Greening: HM Treasury staff are currently based in London and Norwich. However, there are no current plans to move any staff or offices of HM Treasury to Brighton.
Energy: Finance
Zac Goldsmith: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what agreements on energy subsidy reform were reached at the recent G20 meeting of finance Ministers and central bank governors. [43037]
Justine Greening: At the G20 summit in Seoul on 11-12 November 2010, leaders asked their finance and energy Ministers to report back on the progress made in implementing country-specific strategies at the November 2011 summit in France. At the recent G20 meeting of finance Ministers and central bank governors in Paris on 18-19 February 2011 a wide range of issues were discussed, including on energy.
Members: Correspondence
Mr Baron: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when he intends to reply to the letter from the hon. Member for Basildon and Billericay of 20 December 2010 concerning a constituent, Mr Kerwin. [43798]
Justine Greening: I have replied to the hon. Member.
Public Expenditure
Matthew Hancock: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) with reference to table 1.1 of the June 2010 Budget, what spending consolidation he plans to implement in 2011-12 in addition to the consolidation for that year planned by the previous administration; [39105]
(2) how much of the spending consolidation in 2011-12 is to be attributed to the activity of the previous administration. [39178]
Danny Alexander: As per Table 1.1 of the June Budget and Table A.2 of the spending review, the previous Government’s spending cuts in 2011-12, compared to 2010-11, amount to £14 billion; while the Government’s spending cuts in 2011-12, compared to 2010-11, amount to £16 billion.
Wealth Redistribution
Steve Baker: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what recent assessment he has made of the monetary causes of wealth redistribution; and if he will make a statement. [43334]
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Justine Greening: The Wealth and Assets Survey (WAS) is a large scale nationally representative longitudinal survey of over 30,000 private households in Great Britain that provides comprehensive information on people’s assets and net wealth. The first wave was conducted from July 2006 to June 2008. It collected detailed information on financial and non-financial assets, and wealth components such as savings, pensions, property, mortgages and debt as well as people’s attitudes and savings behaviour over time.
Extensive analysis of the distribution of wealth using the Wealth and Assets data is available in “Wealth in Great Britain 2006-08” at the following web link:
http://www.statistics.gov.uk/downloads/theme_economy/wealth-assets-2006-2008/Wealth_in_GB_2006_2008.pdf
Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali
Mr Douglas Alexander: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what steps have been taken in respect of the assets held in the UK of the former Tunisian president Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali and his associates. [43768]
Justine Greening: On 4 February the EU adopted Council Regulation (EU) No 101/2011 which imposed an asset freeze on Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali and his associates. The regulation has direct effect in the UK, and consequently an asset freeze is now in place against Ben Ali and 47 other individuals.
To date HM Treasury has received no reports of funds held in the UK by persons designated under Regulation 101/2011.
Home Department
DNA: Databases
Andrew Percy: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many samples have been added to the DNA database in each police authority area in the last five years; and how many of those samples were for people who were not subsequently convicted of a criminal offence. [41727]
James Brokenshire [holding answer 28 February 2011]: DNA samples are not in themselves added to the National DNA Database (NDNAD), but are analysed and converted into a DNA profile which is then added to the NDNAD. The following table shows the number of subject DNA profiles held on the NDNAD by each of the police forces in England and Wales as at 31 December 2010.
These data are based on a snapshot of the NDNAD as at 31 December 2010. The data are management information and have not been formally assessed for compliance with the Code of Practice for Official Statistics.
The most recent figures available for England and Wales show that at 31 March 2010 there were an estimated 4,946,613 persons on the NDNAD, of whom 22 % (an estimated 1,083,207 persons) did not have a current conviction, caution, formal warning or reprimand recorded on PNC. A breakdown by force is not available.
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| Breakdown of the subject sample profiles on the NDNAD by police force from the creation of the NDNAD to 31 December 2010 | |
| Police force | Number of subject profiles on NDNAD |
| Note: The figures provided are for the number of subject profiles retained; this is not the same as the number of people retained. | |
Entry Clearances: Overseas Students
Mike Weatherley: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many students entering the UK on a student visa were refused entry at the border in (a) 2007, (b) 2008, (c) 2009 and (d) 2010. [43085]
Damian Green: From 1 January 2007 to 31 December 2010, a total of 4,949 students were refused entry at the UK Border, of which 1,088 are recorded as holding visas. The details for each calendar year are set out in the following table:
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|
|
Number of persons seeking entry as a student refused entry | Number of persons holding a visa seeking entry as a student refused entry |
The data are from a live departmental database and have not been subject to the detailed data-cleansing required for National Statistics. They are therefore provisional and subject to modification.
Newport Passport Office: Closures
Mrs Ellman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the oral evidence of the Minister of State for Immigration to the Welsh Affairs Committee on 10 November 2010, HC 590, column 73, if she will publish the consultation document on the closure of Newport Passport Office. [43910]
Damian Green: The collective consultation with staff, trade unions and interested parties on the proposed closure of the passport application processing centre at Newport is due to end on 18 March 2011. Ministers will decide on how best to reduce the excess capacity in the application processing network in the light of the outcome of the consultation exercise. A summary of responses and the papers used during the consultation process will be published following that decision.
Police: Fees and Charges
Greg Mulholland: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much revenue accrued to police forces from charges for the return of stolen vehicles to their owners in (a) England, (b) Leeds and (c) Leeds North West constituency in each year since 2005. [43181]
James Brokenshire: The information requested is not collected centrally.
The police are empowered to order the removal of any vehicle that is dangerously, obstructively or illegally parked, or broken down, or abandoned, including vehicles abandoned after being stolen. Such removals necessarily incur significant costs. To meet these costs, the law authorises the police in every case to levy on the vehicle owners charges prescribed by the Secretary of State.
Prostitution
Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether she plans to extend the sex worker diversion scheme pilot to London boroughs other than Newham. [43787]
Lynne Featherstone: The Safe Exit Diversion Scheme in Newham is a recent expansion of a scheme that has been running since 2006 in Tower Hamlets. The scheme is run by the charitable organisation, Toynbee Hall. It is not a scheme piloted by the Home Office.
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The Government are currently looking at the approaches taken towards prostitution in different local areas throughout England and Wales in order to identify effective practice in terms of policing, exiting prostitution, minimising harm and multi-agency working. Effective practice guidance for local areas will be published later in the spring.
Shotgun Certificates
Dr Poulter: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many shotgun certificate holders there are in each parliamentary constituency. [43821]
James Brokenshire: The information requested is not available centrally. The Home Office only holds data on shotgun certificates broken down by police force area. The most recent figures are available at:
http://rds.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/pdfs10/hosb0510.pdf
The figures for 2009/10 are planned to be published on 24 March 2011.
Vetting: Buses
Stephen Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what legislative provisions she plans to introduce to remove the requirement on coach drivers working for a single employer and taking children to school across two or more local authority boundaries to undertake a Criminal Records Bureau check in respect of each local authority. [R] [43618]
Lynne Featherstone [holding answer 2 March 2011]: The criminal records disclosure regime provides eligibility for Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) checks, rather than legal requirements, for those working in sensitive areas such as work with children or vulnerable adults.
Changes to the disclosure regime proposed in the Protection of Freedoms Bill aim to increase the portability of disclosures, by enabling an employer to check a previous CRB disclosure and verify that no new information has since come to light.
Health
Blood
Ms Abbott: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate he has made of the budget to be allocated to blood and transplants following the implementation of the proposals in the public health White Paper, “Healthy Lives, Healthy People”; and if he will make a statement. [43167]
Anne Milton: There are no proposals in “Healthy Lives Healthy People” regarding the budget for blood and transplants.
NHS Blood and Transplant (NHSBT), which supplies blood, solid organs and tissues to hospitals in England, receives grant in aid from the Department which includes the cost of organ retrieval services. NHSBT recovers the cost of collecting, processing, testing and issuing each blood component from the hospitals.
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The Health and Social Care Bill 2011 gives the NHS Commissioning Board the power to commission certain health services including those specialised services, such as transplant services, which are currently commissioned at a national and regional level. These services will be referred to in the annual mandate and specified in detail in regulations.
Blood: Donors
Simon Kirby: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what arrangements are in place in relation to a recipient of donated blood tracing the donor; and if he will make a statement. [43354]
Anne Milton: Personal details of people who have donated blood are confidential and are kept securely by NHS Blood and Transplant. These details are not released to any third party without consent unless allowed or required by law.
Simon Kirby: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what his estimate is of the number of blood donors on the donor register who are unknowingly infected with CJD; and if he will make a statement. [43355]
Anne Milton:
The prevalence of infective donors remains unknown. A study of stored tissue samples found abnormal prion protein in three appendices out of 12,674 samples. This suggests a prevalence of about one in 4,000, though with very wide confidence interval of between one in 1,400 and one in 20,000. On the expert advice of the Spongiform Encephalopathy Advisory Committee, this single study is given considerable weight, though a larger subsequent study suggests a lower range of estimates. Not all of the individuals in the first study would be of an age eligible to donate blood, nor is it clear whether presence of abnormal prion protein in tissues such as the appendix or tonsils indicates that the
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blood of such a donor would transmit variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCJD). All precautionary measures are assessed in the context of the fundamental uncertainties about prevalence.
The Department commissioned and uses a study, published in 2003 by DNV Consulting (London) which assessed the magnitude of the risk from infection with vCJD in blood and blood products. Based on this, the Department has published its own risk assessment which underpins departmental policy, which can be found on the Department's website at:
www.dh.gov.uk/en/Publichealth/Communicablediseases/CJD/CJDgeneralinformation/DH_4136944
A copy of this document has been placed in the Library.
Departmental Relocation
Simon Kirby: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will bring forward proposals to relocate (a) staff and (b) offices of his Department to Brighton; and if he will make a statement. [43474]
Mr Simon Burns: There is no current programme to relocate posts or staff out of London but this will be reviewed as part of the Department’s wider transition programme and associated changes to workforce and responsibilities. At present, the Department has no specific plans to relocate civil servant posts or staff to Brighton.
Departmental Regulation
Gordon Banks: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what regulations his Department introduced between 24 November 2010 and 8 February 2011; [42087]
(2) what regulations his Department removed between 24 November 2010 and 8 February 2011. [42093]
Mr Simon Burns: The information is in the following tables.
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Diseases
Mr Andrew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what progress his Department has made on its proposed strategy to deal with rare diseases; and if he will make a statement. [43272]
Mr Simon Burns: Officials in the Department have held meetings with the devolved Administrations and also met with several key stakeholders as part of the development of a plan for rare disease. The plan will be ready by 2013 in line with the Council Recommendation.
Food: Genetically Modified Organisms
Mr Bain: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what his policy is on the entry of products derived from genetically modified organisms into the UK food chain. [43415]
Anne Milton: The Government believe that regulatory decisions on the entry of products derived from genetically modified organisms into the United Kingdom food chain should be based on a robust, case-by-case assessment of the potential impact on human health and the environment, taking full account of the scientific evidence.
Health Visitors: North East England
Pat Glass: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many of the new health visitor posts announced by his Department will be (a) full-time and (b) located in the North East. [43018]
Anne Milton: The ‘Health Visitor Implementation Plan 2011-15’, published on 8 February 2011, was accompanied by a national health service management letter, which was issued to all chief executives at strategic health authorities in England and all chief executives of primary care trusts in England. The letter provides indicative trajectories of work force growth in full time equivalents for 2011-12 at a regional, strategic health authority level.
Copies of the Implementation Plan and management letter have already been placed in the Library.
Strategic health authorities will need to work with their primary care trusts to commission against the commitment of increasing overall numbers of health visitors by 4,200 (full-time equivalent) by April 2015.
Maternity Services: Finance
Ms Abbott: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the NHS's budget for maternity services is in (a) 2010-11 and (b) 2011-12; and if he will make a statement. [43076]
Anne Milton: Primary care trust (PCT) baseline allocations for 2010-11 and 2011-12 have been announced. No national budgets have been set for maternity services.
We have set out our intention to protect the national health service budget in line with inflation over the course of the spending review, and NHS funding for maternity services is within this total.
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It is for PCTs to determine how much to spend on maternity services in the light of local circumstances and the NHS Operating Framework. The provision of safe, high quality maternity services, which are focused on improving both outcomes for women and babies and women's experience of care, is a priority for the NHS in the Outcomes Framework for 2011-12 that was published on 20 December 2010. A copy has already been placed in the Library.
Members: Correspondence
Paul Maynard: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when he plans to reply to the letter from the hon. Member for Blackpool North and Cleveleys (Paul Maynard) of 16 December 2010. [43551]
Anne Milton: A reply to the letter from the hon. Member of 16 December 2010 was sent on 2 March 2011.
Mental Illness: Prisoners
Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many prisoners diagnosed with acute and severe mental illness were transferred to an appropriate healthcare setting in each of the last five years. [43514]
Paul Burstow: These data are collected on a quarterly basis and are shown in the following table. Data are not currently available beyond the first quarter of 2010-11.
| Number of prisoners in England with acute and severe mental illness and who were transferred to appropriate healthcare settings: per quarter 2006-07 to 2010-11 | |||||
|
|
Q1 | Q2 | Q3 | Q4 | Total |
| n/a = not available Source: Offender Health Quarterly Regional Prison Health Performance and Quality Indicators | |||||
Midwives: Insurance
Mike Weatherley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will bring forward proposals to assist independent midwives with access to professional indemnity insurance provided by the NHS. [42057]
Anne Milton: The Department is working with groups of independent midwives to encourage them to form social enterprises, which may help them negotiate contracts to deliver maternity services to the national health service.
The Government published their response to Finley Scott's “Independent review of requirement to have insurance or indemnity as a condition of registration as a healthcare professional” at the end of 2010. Recommendation 20 of the review said:
“In relation to groups for whom the market does not provide affordable insurance or indemnity, the four health departments should consider whether it is necessary to enable the continued availability of the services provided by these groups; and, if so, the health departments should seek to facilitate a solution”.
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We agree with this recommendation and will take forward work on a case-by-case basis where this is appropriate.
Midwives: Training
Ms Abbott: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate he has made of the budget to be allocated to midwifery training places following the implementation of the proposals in the public health White Paper, Healthy Lives, Healthy People; and if he will make a statement. [43165]
Anne Milton: Funding to support midwifery training is part of the Multi Professional Education and Training (MPET) budget allocated to strategic health authorities (SHAs) as part of the national health service central budget bundle. The MPET budget is not calculated on a profession specific basis and responsibility for how it is invested lies with SHAs.
SHAs, in conjunction with their associated deaneries, higher education institutions, primary care trusts and NHS trusts are responsible for commissioning the appropriate level of midwifery training posts to meet the needs of the local population. From 2011-12 the SHAs and associated national health service organisations will be expected to take account of the training recommendations produced by the Centre for Workforce Intelligence when planning and commissioning their trainee numbers.
NHS Foundation Trusts
Mr Wallace: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what conditions a hospital must meet to achieve foundation status. [43032]
Mr Simon Burns: The requirements for a national health service trust to achieve foundation trust status is set out in the publication ‘Applying for NHS Foundation Trust Status—Guide to Applicants’. This is available on Monitor's website at:
www.monitor-nhsft.gov.uk/home/becoming-nhs-foundation-trust/guidance-applicants-november-2008
NHS: Private Patients
Frank Dobson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health which NHS hospitals provide treatment to private patients; and what the (a) limit on numbers, (b) income, (c) expenditure and (d) amount owed by private patients was for each such hospital in each of the last five years. [41820]
Mr Simon Burns: Only some of this information is available. The information that is collected centrally on income earned from private patients is provided below, separately for national health service trusts and for NHS foundation trusts.
In respect of income, the figures have been placed in the Library. These figures represent income from private patients in NHS trusts for the last five years (2005-06 to 2009-10). The source of this data is the audited summarisation schedules, from which the NHS (England) Summarised Accounts are prepared.
Those NHS trusts which do not have private patient income (in each year) are not included in the tables.
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The Department does not collect data from NHS foundation trusts (FTs). Where an NHS trust obtains foundation trust status part way through any year, the data provided are only for the part of the year the organisation operated as an NHS trust. In the table, this is evident where the organisation name includes “Foundation Trust”.
Information on numbers of private patients, expenditure (on private patients), and the amount owed by private patients is not separately identifiable from the NHS trust audited summarisation schedules.
FTs are currently restricted on the amount of income they can earn from private charges, otherwise known as the “private patient income cap”, where each organisation is unable to earn in any financial year a higher proportion of its total income from private charges than it derived from private charges in the year 2002-03.
The chairman of Monitor (the Independent Regulator of NHS FTs) has provided information on the amount of income derived from private charges by FTs in each of the last five years, as shown in the following table. Neither Monitor nor the Department holds the other information sought on numbers of private patients, expenditure (on private patients), and the amount owed by private patients.
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| FTs private patient income | ||
| £ million | ||
|
|
Amount | Re-stated |
| Note: FTs can restate the prior year’s accounts, so the figure with restated is the new one but the other figure was also previously published. | ||
Spinal Injuries: Surgery
Alison Seabeck: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many (a) complex spinal, (b) scoliosis and (c) primary anterior lumber surgery procedures have been carried out in each hospital trust in each of the last three years. [42311]
Mr Simon Burns: The available information is contained in the following tables. Following clinical coding advice, we are unable to provide data for complex spinal procedures as this is not a term which we are able to relate to available clinical codes.
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|
Robert Jones and Agnes Hunt Orthopaedic and District Hospital NHS Trust |
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Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust |
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Robert Jones and Agnes Hunt Orthopaedic and District Hospital NHS Trust |
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|
University Hospital of South Manchester PCT Foundation Trust |
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| Notes: Small numbers To protect patient confidentiality, figures between one and five have been replaced with “*” (an asterisk). Where it was still possible to identify numbers from the total an additional number (the next smallest) has been replaced. (1) Finished Consultant Episode (FCE) A finished consultant episode (FCE) is a continuous period of admitted patient care under one consultant within one healthcare provider. FCEs are counted against the year in which they end. Figures do not represent the number of different patients, as a person may have more than one episode of care within the same stay in hospital or in different stays in the same year. (2(a)) Number of episodes with a (named) main or secondary procedure The number of episodes where the procedure (or intervention) was recorded in any of the 24 (12 from 2002-03 to 2006-07 and four prior to 2002-03) procedure fields in a Hospital Episode Statistics (HES) record. A record is only included once in each count, even if the procedure is recorded in more than one procedure field of the record. Note that more procedures are carried out than episodes with a main or secondary procedure. For example, patients under going a ‘cataract operation’ would tend to have at least two procedures—removal of the faulty lens and the fitting of a new one—counted in a single episode. The OPCS and ICD10 codes used for 'scoliosis surgery’ are; V42.2 Epiphysiodesis of spinal apophyseal joint for correction of deformity V42.4 Anterior and posterior epiphysiodesis of spine for correction of deformity V42.5 Anterior epiphysiodesis of spine for correction of deformity NEC V42.6 Posterior epiphysiodesis of spine for correction of deformity NEC. V41.1 Posterior attachment of correctional instrument to spine V41.2 Anterior attachment of correctional instrument to spine V41.3 Removal of correctional instrument from spine V41.4 Anterior and posterior attachment of correctional instrument to spine V41.8 Other specified instrumental correction of deformity of spine V41.9 Unspecified instrumental correction of deformity of spine Please note that the assignment of the above codes is not limited to the treatment of scoliosis therefore the above OPCS code were used in combination with the relevant ICD-10 codes for the diagnosis ‘scoliosis’: M41.-Scoliosis M96.5 Postradiation scoliosis Q76.3 Congenital scoliosis due to congenital bony malformation The OPCS codes used for ‘primary anterior lumbar surgery’ procedures are as follows: (a) The following OPCS codes specifically classify primary anterior procedures/interventions performed on the lumbar spine: V25.7 Primary anterior corpectomy of lumbar spine and reconstruction HFQ V33.3 Primary anterior excision of lumbar intervertebral disc and interbody fusion of joint of lumbar spine V33.4 Primary anterior excision of lumbar intervertebral disc NEC V33.5 Primary anterior excision of lumbar intervertebral disc and posterior graft fusion of joint of lumbar spine V33.6 Primary anterior excision of lumbar intervertebral disc and posterior instrumentation of lumbar spine (b) The following codes classify primary anterior procedures that are not limited to the lumbar spine and may also be performed on other areas of the spine. Therefore a site code was added in a secondary position to the codes listed below in order to identify that the procedure was performed on the lumbar spine: V41.2 Anterior attachment of correctional instrument to spine V41.4 Anterior and posterior attachment of correctional instrument to spine V42.4 Anterior and posterior epiphysiodesis of spine for correction of deformity V42.5 Anterior epiphysiodesis of spine for correction of deformity NEC V44.2 Anterior decompression of fracture of spine As stated above, one of the following site codes must be assigned in a secondary position in order to identify that the procedure was performed on the lumbar spine: Z66.5 Lumbar vertebra Z67.5 Lumbar intervertebral joint Z67.6 Lumbosacral joint Z99.3 Intervertebral disc of lumbar spine 2(b) Primary diagnosis The primary diagnosis is the first of up to 20 (14 from 2002-03 to 2006-07 and seven prior to 2002-03) diagnosis fields in the Hospital Episode Statistics (HES) data set and provides the main reason why the patient was admitted to hospital. (3) Hospital Provider Any organisation acting as a provider of hospital care (e.g. an NHS Trust, NHS Foundation Trust or independent provider). Data from some independent sector providers, where the onus for arrangement of dataflows is on the commissioner, may be missing. Care must be taken when using these data as the counts may be lower than true figures. (4) Activity included: Activity in English NHS Hospitals and English NHS commissioned activity in the independent sector. Source: Hospital Episode Statistics (HES), The NHS Information Centre for health and social care | |||
vCJD
Simon Kirby: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will take steps to screen (a) the UK blood supply and (b) blood donors for vCJD. [43356]
Anne Milton: No such screening can yet take place at present as there are no validated blood screening tests for variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease available. The Department, together with the United Kingdom Blood Services, continues to monitor scientific research and development in this area.
Simon Kirby:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) if he will assess the merits of removing the warning Risk of Adverse Reaction Infection Including
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vCJD from blood bags; and if he will make a statement; [43357]
(2) for what reasons his Department places the warning Risk of Adverse Reaction Infection Including vCJD on blood bags. [43358]
Anne Milton: To comply with the requirements of Good Manufacturing Practice the United Kingdom Blood Services place warnings on blood bags as a final alert to clinical staff that blood components, being of human origin, always carry a potential risk of transmission of infection. Transfusions can also cause other unpredictable side effects, such as allergic reactions. Though fortunately any such events are rare, there is no intention to remove warnings from blood bags.
Variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCJD) is mentioned specifically on blood pack labels because it is a relatively new and rare infection. There have been three cases where blood has been the presumed route of vCJD transmission, all from donations in 1999 or before, from donations where the donor later went on to develop clinical vCJD to a recipient who themselves later went on to develop clinical vCJD.
Simon Kirby: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will ensure the provision of advice to people who are about to receive blood or blood components on the risk of infection of vCJD. [43359]
Anne Milton: Guidance from the Department places responsibility on Hospital Transfusion Committees to ensure that patients who are likely to receive a blood transfusion are given timely information, informing them of the indication for transfusion, the risks and benefits of transfusion, and any available alternatives to transfusion.
NHS Blood and Transplant (NHSBT) provides a patient information leaflet for hospital staff to give to patients who may receive a transfusion. It indicates that patients should be told that transfusions should only be given if the benefits outweigh the risks, and they should be informed of alternatives to transfusion if these are appropriate and available. The infective risks of blood transfusion are clearly stated. The section on variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCJD) specifically states:
“Although the risk of getting variant CJD is probably low from a single transfusion, the risk of any infection will increase with additional blood transfusions. Each year approximately 2 million units of blood are transfused in England, and there have just been a handful of cases where patients are known to have become infected with vCJD from a blood transfusion.”
The leaflet is publicly available on the NHSBT website at:
http://hospital.blood.co.uk/library/pdf/INF_PCS_HL_001_05_will_i_need_leaflet_ENGLISH.pdf