Unemployment: Greater London
Rushanara Ali: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people were registered as actively seeking work in jobcentres in (a) London, (b) the London borough of Tower Hamlets and (c) Bethnal Green and Bow constituency between January and June 2011. [69076]
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Chris Grayling: The numbers of people who were registered as actively seeking work in London jobcentres, the London borough of Tower Hamlets and the Bethnal Green and Bow constituency between January and June 2011 are as follows:
| 2011 | ||||||
| Area | January | February | March | April | May | June |
Unemployment: Young People
Julie Elliott: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what steps he is taking to reduce youth unemployment in (a) Sunderland Central constituency, (b) Sunderland and (c) the North East. [69146]
Chris Grayling: Work experience and apprenticeships are central to improving the prospects of young unemployed people across the country.
Overall we are funding up to 100,000 work experience placements over two years. This will enable young people to undertake a period of valuable work experience lasting between two and eight weeks. Claimants in the 18-24 age group are eligible for work experience and we recently announced the widening of eligibility to include 16 and 17-year-olds in receipt of jobseeker's allowance.
Government are funding up to 250,000 more apprenticeships in England over the next four years and we are strengthening the links between work experience and apprenticeships. Later this year work experience placements will be extended by up to four weeks where employers make a firm offer of an apprenticeship and that offer is accepted.
We have improved our package of support to provide earlier entry to the Work programme for more vulnerable young people and are providing additional Jobcentre Plus help for 16 and 17-year-old jobseeker's allowance claimants. The flexible support that Jobcentre Plus district managers are putting in place is being bolstered with a series of Get Britain Working measures, the availability of which will vary across the country according to local circumstances and needs.
Universal Credit
Kate Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what assessment he has made of the impact of the introduction of universal credit on his proposals to charge parents with care who use the planned statutory maintenance service [68434]
Chris Grayling: The Government announced in “Strengthening families, promoting parental responsibility: the future of child maintenance”, the intention to introduce charges for using the new statutory child maintenance service.
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We do not expect the switch to universal credit to have a significant impact on a person's capacity to pay child maintenance charges. However, the Department will continue to reflect on and review the effect that universal credit proposals have on the child maintenance reforms.
Welfare to Work: Bethnal Green
Rushanara Ali: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions which welfare-to-work organisations operating in Bethnal Green and Bow constituency have a contract with his Department. [68706]
Chris Grayling: The following table lists the organisations that hold a contract for the delivery of contracted employment provision in Bethnal Green and Bow. Other organisations may deliver employment services on an ad-hoc basis.
| Organisation | Programme |
| (1) Indicates a brace | |
Work Capability Assessment
Mrs Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions pursuant to the answer of 28 June 2011, Official Report, column 653W, on employment support allowance: work capability assessment, whether (a) changes in the severity of illness occurring in different phases of medication cycles and (b) the phase of a particular applicant's medication cycle are taken into account during work capability assessments. [68823]
Chris Grayling: Healthcare professionals take account of severity of the claimant’s medical conditions, any treatment they receive and fluctuations in the disabling effects of the conditions both day to day and in the longer term as part of their assessment.
Work Capability Assessment: Appeals
Simon Hart:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the average time was between the initiation of an appeal against a decision on a work
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capability assessment and the notification of the outcome of the appeal to the appellant in the latest period for which figures are available. [61402]
Chris Grayling:
The information is not available in the form requested. The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) only records information from the point of initiation of an appeal to lodging that appeal with Her Majesty's Courts and Tribunals Service (HMCTS). While DWP counts the overall numbers of appeals lodged, a number of these appeals will not be
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referred to the First-tier Tribunal. Appeals lodged with the DWP can lapse if the disputed decision is revised in the customer's favour upon reconsideration, or the customer can decide to withdraw their appeal prior to it being referred and in certain circumstances appeals can be struck out.
HMCTS records average waiting times from the point of receipt with HMCTS to the outcome of the hearing.
The following table shows the average time taken from submission of an appeal to DWP on a work capability decision until a decision is issued by HMCTS.
| Weeks | |||
|
|
April 2011 | May 2011 | Year to date (1) |
| (1) Data cover from 1 April 2011 until 31 May 2011 (the latest period for which figures are available). (2) Employment and support allowance (3) Incapacity benefit | |||
The DWP figures produced are internal management information for internal use only and do not form part of the official statistics outputs that are released by the Department in accordance with the UK Statistics Authority's code of practice.
The average waiting times on a work capability assessment appeals for both ESA and IB cases are made available within the “Social Security and Child Support Statistics” which was published on 15 July on the HMCTS website:
http://www.justice.gov.uk/publications/statistics-and-data/tribunals/sscs-stats.htm
Bill Esterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what consideration he has given to prioritising people waiting for an appeal against a decision of a work capability assessment to be heard who have been diagnosed with anxiety or depression which could be aggravated by waiting for an outcome. [68185]
Chris Grayling: The hon. Member will no doubt be aware that a significant proportion of claimants report mental health as one of their health problems. In view of the numbers involved, it would not be appropriate to delay the appeals of others in order to prioritise the appeals of this particular group. Importantly, all claimants can continue to receive employment and support allowance at a basic rate pending the outcome of the appeal where they appeal against a limited capability for work decision.
We have now commenced the reassessment of everyone on incapacity benefit, severe disablement allowance and income support paid because of an illness or disability to see if they are ready and capable of work. As we know that the assessment process may prove stressful for some customers we have taken a number of steps to ensure those affected are fully informed of what will happen and how it may affect them. Jobcentre Plus write to claimants when their benefit becomes due for reassessment (prompted by the date that they would have been due a Personal Capability Assessment) to tell them about the changes. We also phone the customer shortly after this to check they have received the letter and that they understand what action they need to take, and to find out if they need any extra help. We are now looking at extending this more personal treatment in response to Professor Harrington's recommendations made in his recent report on the operation of the Work Capability Assessment.
Responsibility for administering appeals against decisions on entitlement to benefits lies with Her Majesty's Courts and Tribunals Service, which is an Executive Agency of the Ministry of Justice. The Ministry of Justice has confirmed that it would be willing to refer any individual request to prioritise an appeal for consideration by a Social Security and Child Support Judge, but this would only be done in exceptional cases.
Health
Access to Work Programme
Mrs McGuire: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 12 July 2011, Official Report, columns 297-8W, on access to work programme, how many disabled employees of his Department are currently being provided with support under his Department’s Reasonable Adjustment policy; what proportion of his Department’s total workforce such employees represent; and what the cost to his Department of providing such support was in the last 12 months. [68623]
Mr Simon Burns: The Department considers all appropriate requests for reasonable adjustment and relies on professional occupational health advice to ensure agreed adjustments are suitable and beneficial.
The Department does not hold central records of those staff who have a reasonable adjustment in place. Some adjustments are arranged by the local line management chain and can vary from very short-term adjustments (such as a flexible working arrangement
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for a member of staff returning from a spell of absence) to longer-term adjustments to address more permanent issues.
Accident and Emergency Departments
Dr Poulter: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many NHS accident and emergency departments in England are not open 24 hours a day; and what proportion of NHS accident and emergency departments this represents. [68289]
Mr Simon Burns: Comprehensive information about opening times is not held centrally.
There are 601 accident and emergency departments in England, including independent sector facilities.
Of these, 196 (or 33%) are type one (major) accident and emergency departments. Type one departments by definition provide a 24-hour service. Additionally, some type two (single specialty) and type three (minor injury, walk-in centre and other urgent care) services may be open 24 hours a day.
Alzheimer's Disease: Health Services
Chris Skidmore: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much was spent by primary care trusts on the treatment of Alzheimer's disease in (a) 1997-98 and (b) 2009-10. [67982]
Paul Burstow: The information requested is not collected centrally, but the NHS Information Centre has conducted a voluntary survey of primary care trust memory services, covering the years 2008-09 to 2010-11 which includes information on spend. The provisional results of the survey were published on 19 July 2011, by the NHS Information Centre and the full report will be published shortly and a copy will be placed in the Library.
Ambulance Services: Rural Areas
Mike Gapes: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps his Department is taking to enable all ambulance trusts to use national grid references rather than postcodes to locate emergency callers in rural areas. [68591]
Mr Simon Burns: The management of control room functions are for the national health service ambulance service to manage locally. The Department expects trusts to ensure that its control rooms are fit for purpose and have the necessary capacity capability and resilience to deal with the requirements of a modern ambulance service. This includes effective handling of all 999 calls received so the most appropriate response is awarded based on the information the control room receives; which could include location information based on national grid references.
Anaemia
Joan Walley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will review NHS guidance on the frequency of GP appointments for treatment of pernicious anaemia. [67513]
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Paul Burstow: The Department has issued no guidance to the national health service on the treatment of pernicious anaemia. Professional guidance for general practitioners (GPs) is available from “Clinical Knowledge Summaries” and is summarised in a number of other sources readily accessible to patients and to professionals, including “NHS Choices”, the “Map of Medicine” and the website “Patient UK”. Current guidance advises GPs to monitor the response to treatment with Vitamin B12 after 10 days, and subsequently after eight weeks to confirm a normal blood count. Subsequent monitoring is generally regarded as unnecessary unless anaemia recurs.
Blood: Contamination
Jason McCartney: To ask the Secretary of State for Health for what reason payments to haemophiliacs from the Macfarlane Trust and the Skipton Fund are not made payable to a widow, other relative or dependent of the recipient following the death of the recipient from causes attributable to the receipt of contaminated NHS blood products. [68272]
Anne Milton: The Macfarlane Trust is a discretionary scheme and can make payments, based on need, to widows, other relatives and dependents of HIV-infected beneficiaries who have died. The Caxton Foundation will have similar discretion in respect of widows, other relatives and dependents of those infected with hepatitis C when it begins its operations later this year.
Cancer
Dr Poulter: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many (a) missed diagnoses of cancer, (b) radiotherapy errors and (c) chemotherapy errors were reported to the National Patient Safety Agency in each year since 1997. [68429]
Paul Burstow: The specific information requested is not available from the National Patient Safety Agency (NPSA). The NPSA's National Reporting and Learning System (NRLS) does not label data by clinical disorder or procedure, but rather classifies information by the generic category of the patient safety incident; for example, a medication error rather than an anti-cancer medication error.
The NPSA does have some data, derived from thematic reviews on relevant topics, which answer part of the question:
The NPSA's “A themed review of anticancer medicines” published in 2010, showed that between 1 November 2003 and 30 June 2008 there were 4,839 patients safety incidents involving anti-cancer medicines;
The report “Towards safer radiotherapy” published in 2008 showed that between May 2000 and August 2006, 181 incidents affecting 338 patients were reported in the UK under the Ionising Radiation (Medical Exposure) Regulations (IR(ME)R) 2000; and
The thematic review “Delayed diagnosis of cancer” indicated that between June 2007 and May 2008 around 1,650 patient safety incidents were reported to the NRLS relating to actual or potential delayed cancer diagnosis.
Copies of these documents have been placed in the Library.
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Cancer Act 1939
Mr Brine: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether he has considered the merits of reviewing section 4 of the Cancer Act 1939. [68173]
Paul Burstow: Section 4 of the Cancer Act 1939 states that it is illegal to advertise or promote any medicines, diets or therapies as treatments or cures for cancer. The Government have given no consideration to the merits of reviewing this section of the Act.
The Department last consulted on changes to the Act in 2006 and, subsequent to this, a Legislative Reform Order came into force in October 2008. This removed the need to consult the Attorney-General before bringing a prosecution and made clear that there is discretion on whether or not to prosecute under the Act, rather than a duty to do so.
Cancer: Drugs
Esther McVey: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans he has to share good examples of data reporting on the operation of the Cancer Drugs Fund among strategic health authorities; and if he will make a statement. [68150]
Paul Burstow: The Department published “Guidance to support operation of the Cancer Drugs Fund in 2011-12” on 23 March 2011. The guidance recommends that strategic health authorities (SHAs) make appropriate Cancer Drugs Fund activity data available on their websites. Activity data may include such items as the number of applications, approvals by drugs and indication. SHAs are recommended to update this information regularly. The guidance also recommends that SHAs make information on expenditure against the fund available on their websites. SHAs are recommended to update this information periodically.
We understand that SHAs are working together to promote best practice in the operation of the fund.
A copy of the guidance has already been placed in the Library.
Esther McVey: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) whether provision has been made to ensure that monthly and quarterly reporting required under the Department of Health's guidance on the operation of the Cancer Drugs Fund will be made publicly available by strategic health authorities on a monthly basis; and if he will make a statement; [68151]
(2) what assessment he has made on the data that have been published by each strategic health authority on the use of the Cancer Drugs Fund since October 2010; and if he will make a statement. [68152]
Paul Burstow: It is for strategic health authorities (SHAs) to decide what information they make available about the operation of the Cancer Drugs Fund in their area.
The Department published “Guidance to support operation of the Cancer Drugs Fund in 2011-12” on 23 March 2011. The guidance recommends that SHAs make appropriate activity data available on their websites. SHAs are recommended to update this information regularly. It also recommends that information on
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expenditure against the fund is made available on SHA websites and SHAs are recommended to update this information periodically.
A copy of the guidance has already been placed in the Library.
Mr Baron: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) if he will hold discussions with strategic health authorities who do not follow his Department's guidance on the operation of the Cancer Drugs Fund; and if he will make a statement; [68629]
(2) what recent assessment he has made of regional variations in the operation of the Cancer Drugs Fund; and if he will make a statement. [68649]
Mr Simon Burns: We have no plans to hold discussions with strategic health authorities (SHAs) on these matters.
The National Cancer Action Team is supporting the national health service in operating the arrangements for the Cancer Drugs Fund through organising national meetings of the SHA leads and facilitating the sharing of information.
The Department published “Guidance to support operation of the Cancer Drugs Fund” in 2011-12 on 23 March 2011. It is for SHA regional clinically-led panels to make decisions on the use of this funding.
A copy of the guidance has already been placed in the Library.
Care Homes
Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what estimate he has made of the number of care homes which may close as a result of the collapse of Southern Cross; [67469]
(2) whether his Department has issued guidance to local authority directors of adult social services on placing residents they fund in care homes where the operator may be an offshore company; [67472]
(3) what (a) financial support and (b) other support he provides to local authority directors of adult social services to help ensure that new operating companies of care homes where they fund residents have sound financial models. [67473]
Paul Burstow: No such estimate has been made at present. Southern Cross remains in operation and will continue to operate all of its care homes until any transfers to new providers have taken place.
Under the Care Quality Commission (Registration) Regulations 2010, made by the previous Government under the Health and Social Care Act 2008, responsibility was given to the Care Quality Commission (CQC), as regulator of health and adult social care, for determining questions of the financial viability of care providers.
No guidance regarding the offshore status of care home operators has been issued by the Department to directors of adult social services at any point. The CQC is required to satisfy itself that any prospective care provider is capable of delivering safe, high quality care and of meeting all regulatory requirements and standards.
Care Quality Commission
Dr Poulter: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many complaints were referred to the Care Quality Commission for independent review in each year since 1997. [68177]
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Mr Simon Burns: The Care Quality Commission (CQC) does not have responsibility for second stage complaints (the independent review stage). In order to get resolution on concerns about care services, complainants should contact the provider in the first instance. If a complainant is unhappy with the response received from the provider, the complainant may then take their complaint to the Parliamentary and Health Services Ombudsman for consideration.
The only predecessor organisation of CQC with responsibilities for second stage complaints was the Healthcare Commission (HCC) which was responsible for reviewing complaints about NHS services. The following table shows the number of second stage complaints received by HCC from July 2004 to 31 March 2009.
| Financial year | Healthcare Commission |
| (1) Healthcare Commission took on the role of reviewing second stage complaints in July 2004. | |
Cystic Fibrosis: Nurses
Mr Brine: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps his Department plans to take to support the provision of cystic fibrosis specialist nurse services in England. [68172]
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Mr Simon Burns: Local national health service organisations are best placed to assess the health needs of their local health community and plan the work force they need.
Advertising
Dr Poulter: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much his Department has spent on (a) television, (b) radio and (c) newspaper advertising in (i) real and (ii) nominal terms in each year since 1997-98; and how much it has so spent in total. [68215]
Mr Simon Burns: The following tables outline the specific costs relating to the Department's advertising spend 1997-98 to 2003-04 financial years and advertising spend broken down into television, radio and newspaper media for 2004-05 on. To provide a breakdown from 1997-2004 would incur disproportionate cost.
The financial information is not available in the format requested and to provide the information in real and nominal terms would incur disproportionate costs.
| Department of Health media spend 1997-98 to 2003-04 financial years | |
|
|
£ million |
| Department of Health media spend on radio, television and newspapers , 2004-05 to 2010-11 financial years | |||||||
| £ million | |||||||
|
|
2004-05 | 2005-06 | 2006-07 | 2007-08 | 2008-09 | 2009-10 | 2010-11 (1) |
| (1) Figures are provisional. Notes: 1. Advertising spend is defined as covering only media spend (inclusive of agency commissions but excluding production costs, COI commission and VAT). 2. These figures do not include the Department's recruitment/classified advertising costs and ad hoc spend under £10,000. All figures are rounded to the nearest £10,000. 3. 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 spreadsheet reflects central departmental spend, it would incur disproportionate cost to validate that every item of NHS expenditure has been removed. | |||||||
Gavin Williamson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much his Department has spent on (a) television, (b) radio and (c) newspaper advertising in (i) real and (ii) nominal terms between (A) May 2006 and June 2007 and (B) June 2009 and May 2010; and what the total cost to the public purse was. [68378]
Mr Simon Burns: The information requested is not available in the required format. To produce the information outside complete financial years and in real and nominal terms would incur disproportionate costs.
The following chart shows the Department's spend in the requested media over the four financial years covered by the scope of the question.
| Departmental media spend on radio, television and newspapers | ||||
| £million | ||||
|
|
2006-07 | 2007-08 | 2009-10 | 2010-11 (1) |
| (1)Figures are provisional 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). 2. These figures do not include the Department's recruitment/classified advertising costs and ad hoc spend under £10,000. All figures are rounded to the nearest £10,000. 3. These figures may include occasional minor spend through COI by national health service organisations, to supplement national campaigns in their area. While this expenditure has been excluded as far as possible so that this spreadsheet reflects central departmental spend, it would incur disproportionate cost to validate that every item of NHS expenditure has been removed. | ||||
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Departmental Billing
Dr Poulter: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many payments to contractors have been made late by his Department in each financial year since 1997; and what the cost to the public purse was of (a) penalty charges and (b) interest for such late payments. [68211]
Mr Simon Burns: The Department operates standard contractual payment terms of 30 days and any payments that are delayed beyond that date may be subject to interest under the Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998. The Act states that suppliers who are not paid within 30 days of the receipt of the invoice by the party billed are entitled to claim interest on the delayed payment at a rate of 8% above the Bank of England base reference rate. Penalty payments may be due where a small or medium-sized business obtains a ruling that any contract terms that were applied were grossly unfair.
Details of the penalty and interest charges paid by the Department in each financial year since 1997-98 are given in the following table. Data are only available from 2001-02 when the Department introduced an Oracle based finance system (Vista), which allowed for such payment information to be collected.
|
|
Number of late payments | Penalty charges (£) | Interest charges (£) |
| n/a = Not available | |||
It should be noted that these data cover all payments made by the Department and therefore include both commercial and non-commercial suppliers. No separate analysis of “contractor” payments is available.
Gavin Williamson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many late payments his Department has made to contractors between (a) May 2006 and June 2007 and (b) June 2009 and May 2010; and what the total cost to the public purse was of any (i) penalty charges or (ii) interest charges incurred in those periods. [68319]
Mr Simon Burns:
The Department operates standard contractual payment terms of 30 days and any payments that are delayed beyond that date may be subject to interest under the Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998. The Act states that suppliers who are not paid within 30 days of the receipt of the invoice by the party billed are entitled to claim interest on the
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delayed payment at a rate of 8% above the Bank of England base reference rate. Penalty payments may be due where a small or medium-sized business obtains a ruling that any contract terms that were applied were grossly unfair.
The records available relate to financial years rather than the specific months requested and so cover the periods 1 April 2006 to 31 March 2007 and 1 April 2009 to 31 March 2010 respectively. Details of the penalty and interest charges paid by the Department in each of these periods are given in the following table.
|
|
Number of late payments | Penalty charges (£) | Interest charges (£) |
It should be noted that these data cover all payments made by the Department and therefore include both commercial and non-commercial suppliers. No separate analysis of “contractor” payments is available.
Communications Research
Dr Poulter: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what his Department's total expenditure on communications research has been in each financial year since 1997; and how much was spent on (a) reports on the public perceptions of the NHS, (b) stakeholder surveys, (c) national media evaluations and (d) other communications research. [68216]
Mr Simon Burns: The Department's expenditure on all research commissioned through the Central Office of Information (COI) for the financial years 2001-02 to 2010-11 is as follows. Financial records do not provide this breakdown prior to 2001-02.
The expenditure figures cover all research commissioned by Department through COI for the years in question, so will include projects which are not communications-related. It would incur disproportionate cost to isolate research expenditure related to communications only.
It would also incur disproportionate cost to provide the breakdown of expenditure as requested—i.e. reports on the public perceptions of the national health service, stakeholder surveys, national media evaluations and other communications research.
This does not include costs of research which the Department commissioned directly (not via COI), which are not held centrally.
|
|
Total expenditure (£) |
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Departmental Internet Services
Rosie Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what his policy is on the use by commercial companies of web pages offering registration for his Department's services for a fee in cases where his Department offers registration free of charge; and what steps his Department takes to optimise search engine results for its web pages offering free registration; [68079]
(2) if he will discuss with (a) Google and (b) other search engine providers strategies to ensure that his Department's webpage offering free registration for European Health Insurance Cards appears in search results above websites of commercial companies charging a fee for such registrations; [68080]
(3) what measures are available to his Department to prevent commercial companies charging fees for web applications for European Health Insurance Cards; [68081]
(4) what information his Department holds on the number of services offered by his Department requiring registration to secure an entitlement for which his Department offers registration free of charge but for which commercial companies charge a fee for registration through a website; [68082]
(5) what information his Department holds on companies who charge for registration for the issue to UK nationals of the European Health Insurance Card. [68083]
Anne Milton: The European Health Insurance Card (EHIC) originates from European regulations concerning the free movement of migrant workers around Europe, and it is likely that any charge to the citizen that is over and above the cost of producing the card would be seen as a barrier to citizens accessing their rights in Europe.
It is free of charge to apply for the card in the United Kingdom online, by phone or by post directly through the NHS Business Services Authority (BSA), which administers EHIC applications and renewals on behalf of the Department.
Since the card's introduction in the UK, several websites have set up providing a service whereby, for a charge of around £10, they check a citizen's EHIC application and forward the application to the NHS BSA. These websites can be misleading: they sponsor links on search engines so that they appear above the Government's websites; they use official sounding language and official looking images on their websites; and they sometimes do not make it clear enough that it is free to apply directly through the NHS BSA.
The EHIC application website and the NHS Choices website, which provides information about the EHIC, are currently the top two non-sponsored results on Google, and also feature highly on other similar search engines. The Department has also amended the wording on its website to make it clearer that there is no need to pay for the EHIC, and has taken steps to ensure that this messaging appears in the descriptions of its results on Google and other search engines.
All digital content published on NHS Choices and on the Department's website is designed to perform well in search results.
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While the Department does not have specific details about each company that charges for checking applications for the EHIC, it has referred several websites that offer such services to the Office of Fair Trading (OFT), for it to investigate and take appropriate action. On 14 July 2011, the OFT announced new investigations into the deceptive online selling of Government services, in particular those that are usually low cost or free of charge.
The Department does not hold information on the number of commercial companies charging a fee for registration through a website for services offered by the Department free of charge, nor does it have a general policy on commercial companies offering services for a fee.
Special Advisers
Dr Poulter: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the (a) names and (b) dates of service were of each special adviser in his Department since May 1997; and what the total cost to the public purse was for employing such advisers in each year between 1997 and 2010. [68191]
Gavin Williamson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many (a) special advisers and (b) press officers were employed by his Department between (i) May 2006 and June 2007 and (ii) June 2009 and May 2010; and what the cost to the public purse was in (A) cash and (B) real terms of such appointments. [68332]
Mr Simon Burns: I refer my hon. Friends to the answer I gave my hon. Friend the Member for Kingswood (Chris Skidmore) on 13 June 2011, Official Report, columns 633-34W.
Marketing
Dr Poulter: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much his Department has spent on promotional merchandise branded with his Department's name in each financial year since 1997-98. [68219]
Mr Simon Burns: The Department advises against the use of departmental branding on products, other than on occasional low-value promotional items to support specific internal initiatives or conferences. Any such items are procured by individual teams within the Department and the Department does not hold central records on which items were procured and at what cost. To provide this information would therefore incur disproportionate cost.
Mobile Phones
Dr Poulter: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many mobile telephones and BlackBerrys were provided to staff in his Department in each financial year since 1997; and what the cost to the public purse has been for (a) line rental, (b) insurance and (c) the purchase of the handset. [68207]
Mr Simon Burns: The Department does not hold detailed information on the total number of mobile telephone and BlackBerry devices allocated to staff throughout the periods requested. The following table shows the number of active BlackBerry and mobile phone devices in use by staff at the end of each of the requested financial year periods:
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| Financial year end | BlackBerry | Mobile telephones |
The number of active mobile telephones in issue to staff is sourced from the Department's Human Resource system and not available as an historical snapshot prior to 2009-10. To obtain that information would incur disproportionate costs.
The Department does not hold the expenditure information requested in the required format for the required period. The total expenditure on mobile phone services for financial years 2006-07 to 2010-11 was:
| Mobile telephony expenditure -1997 to 2011 | |
| Financial year | Total costs (£) |
Included within these total costs are handset and line rental contracts, call and data charges for mobile telephone, BlackBerry devices and 3G data cards. The Department does not pay insurance for mobile devices.
Prior to 2006-07, mobile telephony costs were payable from local rather than central departmental budgets and are therefore unavailable.
Gavin Williamson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many mobile telephones and BlackBerrys were provided to staff in his Department between (a) May 2006 and June 2007 and (b) June 2009 and May 2010; and what the total cost to the public purse was of (i) line rental, (ii) insurance and (iii) the purchase of such telecommunications equipment. [68322]
Mr Simon Burns: The Department does not hold detailed information on the total number of mobile telephone and BlackBerry devices allocated to staff throughout the period requested. The following tables show the number of active BlackBerry and mobile phone devices in use by staff at the start and end of the requested periods:
| Period | Active BlackBerry devices | Active mobile telephones |
The number of active mobile telephones in issue to staff is sourced from the Department's Human Resource system and data for May 2006 and June 2007 were not recorded on the system at that time.
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The Department does not hold the expenditure information requested in the required format. The total expenditure on mobile phone services for financial years 2006-07 and 2009-10 was:
| Mobile telephony expenditure | |
| Financial year | Total costs (£) |
Included within these total costs are handset and line rental contracts, call and data charges for mobile phone, BlackBerry devices and 3G data cards. The Department does not pay insurance for mobile devices.
Official Cars
Dr Poulter: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the cost to the public purse has been for (a) cars leased by his Department to staff and (b) ministerial chauffeurs in each financial year since 1997. [68208]
Gavin Williamson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the total cost to the public purse was of (a) cars leased by his Department to staff and (b) ministerial chauffeurs between (i) May 2006 and June 2007 and (ii) June 2009 and May 2010. [68381]
Mr Simon Burns: Information on the costs of cars leased by the Department to staff since 1997-98 is not held centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
Regarding the costs of ministerial chauffeurs, I refer the hon. Members to the answer I gave the hon. Member for Bristol West (Stephen Williams) on 4 July 2011, Official Report, columns 1055-56W.
Departmental Pay
Dr Poulter: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the average annual salary was of staff working in his Department in (a) nominal and (b) real terms in each financial year since 1997-98. [68221]
Mr Simon Burns: Information available on the average annual salary of staff working in the Department in nominal and real terms is given in the following table:
| Financial year | Nominal average salary | Real terms average salary |
The above column of real terms (inflation-adjusted) figures are calculated using the consumer price index obtaining on 31 March for each year for which salary information is available.
The Department changed its payroll provider in 2003-04, so to retrieve the requested information for prior years would require recourse to individual salary records and would incur disproportionate cost.
5 Sep 2011 : Column 145W
Departmental Expenditure
Dr Poulter: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much his Department has spent on (a) newspapers, magazines and periodicals, (b) landscape gardening and (c) flora in his Department in each financial year since 1997-98. [68220]
Mr Simon Burns: The following table gives expenditure on newspapers, magazines and periodicals purchased for library use since 1997-98 and, until March 2010, for retention by individual units. Expenditure by individual units since April 2010 is not available.
| Departmental expenditure on newspapers, magazines and periodicals | |
| Financial year | Expenditure (£) |
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The Department's previous contract for the provision of horticultural services to its London Estate expired November 2010. As a result, we are unable to provide the previous annual costs due to the change of provider. However, for the last year of the contract, the annual spend was £17,123.54.
Under the new contract, the departmental spend for horticultural services for the period December 2010 to November 2011 will be £7,185.40.
We are unable to break down these figures further.
Departmental Expendditure: Rail Travel
Dr Poulter: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the cost to the public purse was for (a) train travel and (b) first-class train travel in each financial year since 1997 by (i) officials in his Department, (ii) Ministers in his Department and (iii) special advisers in his Department. [68209]
Gavin Williamson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the cost to the public purse was for (a) first-class and (b) all train travel by (i) Ministers, (ii) staff and (iii) special advisers in his Department between (A) May 2006 and June 2007 and (B) June 2009 and May 2010. [68339]
Mr Simon Burns: Data from our central travel contracts are not available before April 2004. It is not possible to distinguish between travellers without incurring disproportionate cost. The cost of first-class rail travel and all rail travel from the central travel contract is as follows:
| £ | ||
|
|
First-class rail | Total rail spend |
Stationery
Dr Poulter: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the cost to the public purse was for stationery purchases by his Department in each financial year between 1997 and 2010. [68206]
Mr Simon Burns: Information on stationery spend is not held centrally before 2006. Spend on stationery purchased through the stationery contract for the Department since 2006 is as follows:
|
|
£ |
Gavin Williamson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the total cost to the public purse was of stationery purchased by his Department between (a) May 2006 and June 2007 and (b) June 2009 and May 2010. [68391]
Mr Simon Burns: Spend on stationery purchased through the stationery contract for the Department was:
May 2006 to June 2007: £1,596,546.96
June 2009 to May 2010: £388,306.35.
5 Sep 2011 : Column 147W
Departmental Training
Dr Poulter: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many (a) away days and (b) team-building excursions have taken place in his Department in each financial year between 1997 and 2010; and if he will publish (i) the date of each event, (ii) the location of each event, (iii) the number of attendees and (iv) the itemised cost to the public purse for each event. [68176]
Gavin Williamson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the (a) date, (b) location, (c) number of attendees and (d) cost to the public purse was for each (i) away day and (ii) team-building activity organised for staff in his Department between (A) May 2006 and June 2007 and (B) June 2009 and May 2010. [68336]
Mr Simon Burns: The Department is strongly committed to developing its staff and equipping them with the skills, knowledge and expertise they need to carry out their work roles effectively. Away days and team-building events make a significant contribution to such development.
Away days and team-building activities are typically arranged by individual teams in the Department. No central records of these events are kept so extracting the requested data would incur disproportionate costs.
Diseases: Health Services
Mr Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what recent research he has (a) undertaken and (b) plans to undertake into the effects of early diagnosis and treatment of (i) cancer and (ii) other diseases; and if he will make a statement. [68142]
Mr Simon Burns: The Department's National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) and Policy Research Programme (PRP) fund a wide range of research relating to early diagnosis and treatment of cancer and other diseases.
The PRP is funding the Policy Research Unit in Cancer Awareness, Screening and Early Diagnosis at Queen Mary university of London.
The NIHR School for Primary Care Research comprises the leading academic centres for primary care research in England. One of the school's five programmes of research is in prevention and early diagnosis.
NIHR Collaborations for Leadership in Applied Health Research and Care (CLAHRCs) are collaborative partnerships between a university and the surrounding national health service organisations, focused on improving patient outcomes through the conduct and application of applied health research. Many of the nine CLAHRCs have research and implementation themes relating to early diagnosis and treatment.
Details of projects funded through programmes managed by the NIHR Central Commissioning Facility (CCF) can be found on the CCF website at:
www.ccf.nihr.ac.uk/Pages/FundedProgrammes.aspx
Details of projects funded through programmes managed by the NIHR Evaluation, Trials and Studies Centre (NETSCC) can be found on the NETSCC website at:
www.netscc.ac.uk
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Details of studies hosted by the NIHR Clinical Research Network can be found on the UK Clinical Research Network portfolio database at:
http://public.ukcrn.org.uk/search
Details of research funded by the PRP are available on the Department's website at:
www.dh.gov.uk/en/Aboutus/Researchanddevelopment/Policyresearchprogramme/index.htm
Mr Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what recent assessment he has made of the likely effects on national health service expenditure of the (a) early diagnosis and (b) treatment of (i) cancer and (ii) other diseases; and if he will make a statement; [68143]
(2) what recent estimate he has made of the effects on mortality rates of the early (a) diagnosis and (b) treatment of (i) cancer and (ii) other diseases; and if he will make a statement; [68146]
(3) what plans he has to improve early (a) diagnosis and (b) treatment of (i) cancer and (ii) other diseases; and if he will make a statement. [68147]
Paul Burstow: We are providing £750 million over the next four years to support the national health service to deliver “Improving Outcomes: A Strategy for Cancer”, published on 12 January 2011. The strategy sets out an ambition to save an additional 5,000 lives every year by 2014-15 through early diagnosis of symptomatic cancer and improved access to screening and radiotherapy treatment.
It is now accepted that late diagnosis is one of the main reasons our cancer survival rates are worse than many other European countries. To understand the reasons for this disparity we are leading an International Cancer Benchmarking Partnership to explore the impact of the stage of diagnosis and access to treatment by surgery, radiotherapy and chemotherapy on avoidable deaths from cancer.
We know that for many other conditions earlier diagnosis is also an important factor in delivering better outcomes. That is why to achieve earlier diagnosis of dementia, we are working in partnership with the Alzheimer's Society on the Living Well with Dementia campaign. In March we launched a one-month pilot in the north-west and Yorkshire and the Humber to help people to recognise dementia symptoms and we are now evaluating the impact of the campaign.
Our Mental Health Strategy, “No Health Without Mental Health”, also highlights the importance of prevention and early intervention, as half of those with lifetime mental health problems first experience symptoms before the age of 14. This is why we are working in partnership with the Department for Education and schools to consider how schools can best support children and on the roll-out of interventions to help the most vulnerable children.
Prevention as well as earlier diagnosis is an important factor in delivering better outcomes. This is why we are undertaking prevention activity in a number of areas. For example, through the NHS Health Check we are working to identify people aged 40-74 at risk of heart disease, stroke, kidney disease and diabetes and to support them to reduce or manage that risk through individually tailored advice and support.
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The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence is also developing a range of Quality Standards to support the early diagnosis and treatment of people with a wide range of conditions.
Mr Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether (a) he, (b) other Ministers in his Department, (c) other Ministers and (d) officials in his Department plan to attend the UN Non-Communicable Diseases high level meeting in September 2011; and if he will make a statement. [68145]
Anne Milton: We expect a Health Minister to attend the UN high level meeting in September and to be supported by officials as appropriate. A final decision on the composition of the United Kingdom delegation will be made closer to the time. The decision will take into account how best to represent UK interests, given the domestic and global priority attached to tackling non-communicable diseases, as well as the need for efficient use of taxpayers' money in funding overseas trips.
Doctors: Communication Skills
John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what training in communications skills new doctors are required to undertake. [68160]
Anne Milton: Communication skills are an important part of medical training. The content and standard of medical training is the responsibility of the General Medical Council (GMC), which is the competent authority for medical training in the United Kingdom. The GMC is an independent professional body.
The GMC has statutory responsibility to determine the extent and knowledge and skill required for the granting of primary medical qualifications in the UK. Its recommendations on undergraduate medical education are contained in “Tomorrow's Doctors” (2009) which includes clear guidance on ensuring doctors are able to communicate effectively with patients.
The next stage of training after graduation from a medical school is the Foundation Programme which is managed by the UK Foundation Programme Office. The Foundation Programme curriculum sets out specific competences which doctors must acquire in their relationship with patients and in communication skills.
Postgraduate medical training curricula are developed by the medical Royal Colleges with common competences that should be acquired by all doctors identified by the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges in their document “Competences Framework for Doctors” (2009). This also contains guidance on communication skills and interaction with patients.
Drugs: Health Education
Dr Poulter: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what his Department's expenditure was on the FRANK drug awareness campaign in each year since its introduction. [68430]
Anne Milton:
FRANK is the national drugs internet information and advice service funded by the Department, the Home Office and the Department for Education. The Department contributed the following amounts by
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year to the FRANK campaign. (In this context, the FRANK campaign refers to all communication activity including the helpline, website, SMS, email, Bot, literature, and all marketing and public relations activity.)
|
|
£ |
Drugs: Young People
Toby Perkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many young people between the ages of 16 and 18 were treated for substance misuse in each of the last five years; and what proportion of these young people were care leavers. [68229]
Anne Milton: Figures for the numbers of young people between the ages of 16 and 18 accessing substance misuse services were reported in “Substance misuse among young people: the data for 2009-10”, published by the National Treatment Agency for Substance Misuse in December 2010. The following table, taken from the report, contains the most recently published data.
| Numbers accessing substance misuse services: trends for 16 to 18-year-olds | |||||
| Age | 2005-06 | 2006-07 | 2007-08 | 2008-09 | 2009-10 |
| Source: National Drug Treatment Monitoring System (NDTMS) | |||||
The National Drug Treatment Monitoring system (NDTMS) does not collect data on young people who are care leavers.
Epilepsy: Older People
Teresa Pearce: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what (1) assessment he has made of the level of care offered by the NHS to older people with epilepsy; and if he will make a statement; [67744]
(2) information his Department holds on the proportion of over-65s with epilepsy who have (a) attended a first seizure clinic, (b) been referred to tertiary services, (c) received an individual care plan and (d) had an epilepsy review in the last 12 months; [67795]
(3) information his Department holds on the proportion of over-65s with epilepsy who have been treated in accordance with the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence clinical guidelines of 2004; [67796]
(4) information his Department holds on the proportion of NHS geriatricians who have received training in epilepsy. [67797]
Paul Burstow: None of the information requested is collected by the Department. Local health bodies have the responsibility for ensuring they commission services to meet the local needs of all their resident population living with epilepsy.
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Health professionals have responsibility for using their clinical judgement to decide on the appropriate care for an individual, National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence guidelines are not mandatory.
Teresa Pearce: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what information his Department holds on the level of (a) misdiagnosis and (b) referral for surgery in over-65s with epilepsy; [67798]
(2) what information his Department holds on the proportion of over-65s with epilepsy who (a) are free from seizures, (b) have access to an epilepsy specialist nurse and (c) have been seen by an epilepsy specialist neurologist in the last 12 months; [67799]
(3) what information his Department holds on trends in mortality due to epilepsy in the over-65s; [67800]
(4) what information his Department holds on the incidence of epilepsy in (a) the over-65s and (b) the over-80s. [67801]
Paul Burstow: None of the information requested is collected by the Department.
Fluoride: Drinking Water
Dr Julian Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what (a) estimate his Department has made and (b) data it has on the probable cost of adding fluoride to the water supply in Southampton and Totton; and what account he will take of opposition by (i) the public and (ii) relevant local authorities when deciding whether to make Government funds available for this purpose. [68310]
Anne Milton: Under Section 87 of the Water Industry Act 1991 strategic health authorities (SHAs) are responsible for fluoridation. The only estimate of the cost of the Southampton scheme held by the Department is the figure of £471,000 included in the consultation document published by South Central SHA in September 2008. We understand that the SHA intends to fund implementation of the scheme from its capital allocation, which it may use at its discretion.
Dr Julian Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Health on what date he expects local authorities to take over responsibility for deciding if water supplies should be fluoridated; and whether this (a) could and (b) will be earlier than the delayed date for the abolition of strategic health authorities. [68311]
Anne Milton: Following the Government's acceptance of the recommendations of the NHS Future Forum, strategic health authorities will now continue in place up until April 2013. Subject to the passage of the Health and Social Care Bill 2011, which contains the necessary legislative changes, local authorities will become responsible for consultations on fluoridation schemes from April 2013.
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General Practitioners
Dr Poulter: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many NHS GP consultations have taken place in each year since 1997-98. [68287]
Mr Simon Burns: Figures on the actual numbers of patients who were seen by a general practitioner (GP) are not collected. The latest data on the estimated number of GP consultations, based on a sample, in England are available and shown as follows:
|
|
Estimated number of GP consultations in England per year |
| Note: Data on GP Consultations have not been collected since 2008. Source: NHS Information Centre for Health and Social Care/QResearch: Trends in Consultations Rates in General Practice 1995 to 2008: Analysis of the QResearch Database. | |
Dr Poulter: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many GP appointments have been made in England in each year since 1997; and how many of these appointments have been (a) missed or (b) rescheduled in each year since 1997. [68294]
Mr Simon Burns: The Department does not collect data centrally on numbers of general practitioner appointments, nor on those missed or rescheduled.
Dr Poulter: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what reviews his Department has produced of (a) practice-based commissioning, (b) GP fund holding and (c) total purchasing; and if he will publish those reviews. [68424]
Mr Simon Burns: The impact assessment that was published alongside the Health and Social Care Bill in January contains a review of general practitioner fund holding, total purchasing pilots and practice-based commissioning. No further formal reviews have been produced by the Department.
Health Professions: Manpower
Dr Poulter: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many (a) GPs, (b) health visitors, (c) nurses and (d) school nurses there were per capita in England in each year since 1997.[68223]
Mr Simon Burns: The following table gives the numbers requested in each year since 1997.
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5 Sep 2011 : Column 154W
| Total general practitioners (GPs), health visitors, nursing staff and school nurses per capita in England as at 1997-2010 | |||||||
|
|
1997 | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 |
|
|
2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 (1) |
| n/a = Not available. School nurses did not become a mandatory return until 2004. Figures for 2003 may not represent a full dataset. (1) The new headcount methodology for 2010 data is not fully comparable with previous years data due to improvements that make it a more stringent count of absolute staff numbers. Notes: 1. Data as at 30 September for each year except GP data 1997-99, as at 1 October. 2. Per Capita statistics displayed are staff numbers per 100,000 head of population in England, using Office for National Statistics resident population estimates for each year. 3. Total qualified nursing staff includes GP practice nurses. Data quality: The NHS Information Centre for health and social care seeks to minimise inaccuracies and the effect of missing and invalid data but responsibility for data accuracy lies with the organisations providing the data. Methods are continually being updated to improve data quality where changes impact on figures already published. This is assessed but unless it is significant at national level figures are not changed. Impact at detailed or local level is footnoted in relevant analyses. Sources: 1. The NHS Information Centre for health and social care General and Personal Medical Services Statistics 2. The NHS Information Centre for health and social care Non-Medical Workforce Census Office for National Statistics. 3. 1997-2010 Final Mid-Year Population Estimates (1991, 2001 census based). 2002-08 data was adjusted May 2010 to reflect revisions to migration. | |||||||
Health Professions: Pay
Dr Poulter: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will publish instructions given by Ministers in his Department to the Doctors' and Dentists' Remuneration Board between 1997 and 2010. [68421]
Mr Simon Burns:
The terms of reference given to the Review Body on Doctors' and Dentists' Remuneration (DDRB) between 1997-2010 is published in the DDRB review body reports. Copies of these reports have already been placed in the Library. There was no formal DDRB report for 2011. The approach for the 2011-12 DDRB
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pay round is set out in Secretary of State's letter of 19 August 2010 to the DDRB Chair. A copy of this letter has been placed in the Library. The four Health Departments also commissioned, in August 2010, a review of:
“compensation levels, incentives and the Clinical Excellence and Distinction award schemes for NHS consultants.”
A copy of the terms of reference for this review has also been placed in the Library.
Health Services: Foreign Nationals
Mr Evennett: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what recent assessment he has made of the effect on the NHS budget of providing NHS treatment for non-EU nationals. [67453]
Mr Simon Burns: Entitlement to free national health service hospital treatment is based on residency in the United Kingdom. Some categories of visitors are also exempted from charges as set out in the ‘NHS (Charges to Overseas Visitors) Regulations 2011’. Through these regulations some non-European Union nationals will receive free treatment. The Department does not hold data on the nationality of those whose treatment is provided for by the NHS budget.
Other non-EU nationals, together with UK nationals who are not ordinarily resident here are charged by hospitals for the costs of their treatment. Some charges are not recovered creating a cost to the NHS. The following table shows the total audited losses, bad debts and claims abandoned for all chargeable patients for years 2007-08 to 2009-10, for England.
|
|
Bad debts and claims abandoned in respect of overseas patients (£) |
| Note: We do not collect data from NHS foundation trusts so figures exclude these sites. Source: NHS Trust Audited Summarisation Schedules. | |
On 18 March 2011, we published a response to an earlier consultation on ‘Access to the NHS by Foreign Nationals’. In this response, we announced that the Government will conduct a full, wide-ranging review of the rules and practices relating to charging overseas visitors for using the NHS. It is hoped that this will be completed and put out to public consultation by early next year.
Mrs Main: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) how many non-UK EU nationals were treated by the NHS in each of the last five years; [67960]
(2) what costs for NHS treatment of non-UK EU nationals were (a) reimbursed by the relevant member state and (b) not eligible for reimbursement in the latest period for which figures are available; and whether there is a maximum amount other EU member states will pay for treatment of their citizens by the NHS; [67961]
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(3) what estimate he has made of the costs of treating non-UK EU nationals on the NHS in the latest period for which figures are available. [67962]
Anne Milton: Under European Union (EU) Regulations, the United Kingdom is entitled to claim back the full costs of treating citizens from the EU if they access national health service treatment as a state pensioner and their dependent, a temporary visitor, a posted worker by a company in another member state or a dependent of a worker. Under these Regulations, the expected value of UK claims for 2009-10 against other member states is £57 million.
Member states are not entitled to claim back the costs of treating citizens, of working age, who are lawfully resident and working in that member state, irrespective of nationality. This is because such individuals are contributing to the social security system of that country. Consequently, the Department does not hold data as to how many non UK EU nationals were treated, or the associated cost.
Health Services: Overseas Visitors
Steve Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) if he will take steps to ensure that patients admitted to NHS hospitals who are not entitled to free NHS treatment are obliged to refund costs; [67490]
(2) what recent representations he has received in respect of the cost of treatment provided by the NHS to patients who are not entitled to free NHS treatment; [67491]
(3) what his policy is in respect of claiming the cost of treatment provided by the NHS to patients who are not entitled to free NHS treatment. [67492]
Anne Milton: The ‘NHS (Charges to Overseas Visitors) Regulations 2011’ impose a statutory duty on national health service hospitals to identify persons who are chargeable and to make and recover such charges from them.
The Department's ‘Guidance on Implementing the Overseas Visitors Hospital Charging Regulations’, makes clear that hospitals are obliged to recover debts and should pursue them to whatever extent they consider reasonable in the circumstances. They have the option to write off debts when it would not be reasonable to pursue them, such as when the patient is genuinely without funds or has died, or attempts to secure the debt are unsuccessful. I understand that most hospitals choose to make use of debt recovery companies if initial attempts at recovery prove unsuccessful.
In its response to a public consultation on 18 March 2011, the Home Office announced plans to refuse further requests for visas to enter or remain in the United Kingdom for persons with unpaid debts for NHS treatment in excess of £1,000. These new immigration rules are expected to be introduced in the autumn.
A search of the Department's correspondence database has identified 43 items of correspondence received since 1 January 2011 about the cost of treatment provided by the NHS to patients who are not entitled to free NHS treatment. This is a minimum figure which represents correspondence received by the Department's central
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correspondence team only. Over the same period, the Department has also received 16 parliamentary questions.
On 18 March 2011, Ministers published a response to an earlier consultation on ‘Access to the NHS by Foreign Nationals’ that had received 166 responses. In their response, Ministers announced that the Government will conduct a full, wide-ranging review of the rules and practices relating to charging overseas visitors for using the NHS. It is hoped that this will report early next year.