Midwives
Ms Abbott: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what proportion of midwifery graduates started working as midwives in the NHS within six months of graduation in (a) 2010 and (b) 2011. [94383]
Anne Milton: The data are not available centrally.
The Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) is the official agency for the collection, analysis and dissemination of quantitative information about higher education. The latest data available from the 2009-10 HESA Destinations of Leavers Survey show 81.7% of midwifery graduates in the United Kingdom went on to work as midwives. The 2010-11 data will be published in July 2012. HESA data are UK wide and more time is required to extract specific data for England.
Midwives: Manpower
Ms Abbott: To ask the Secretary of State for Health by what date he estimates midwife numbers will have risen to meet his commitment to recruit 3,000 new midwives. [94511]
Anne Milton: There was no commitment to increase midwife numbers in the coalition agreement.
We are committed to giving mothers the support and care they need throughout their pregnancy, birth and after birth. Safety and high-quality care for mothers are at the heart of maternity services.
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We have increased the number of midwives in training to almost 2,500 but need further analysis to find out how many midwives are heeded on a national level to meet the current and future demand.
We have asked the Centre for Workforce Intelligence to analyse the future work force needed across the whole of the maternity team, not just midwives.
Midwives: Training
Andrew George: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many places for student midwives were commissioned in each region for the 2011-12 academic year. [95126]
Anne Milton: The Department does not collect the number of student midwife training commissions by academic year. However, the number of midwife training commissions in each region for the financial year 2011-12, based on strategic health authority (SHA) plans, are shown in the following table. These are the planned figures only and final outturn figures will not be available until May 2012.
| Midwifery training commissions by SHA in 2011-12 | |
| Midwifery commissions | |
| Note: The figures include both degree and 18-month diploma courses. Source: Multi-professional education and training quarterly monitoring returns. | |
Neurology
Paul Blomfield: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, with reference to the report by the National Audit Office on services for people with neurological conditions, what assessment he has made of the factors underlying the rise in emergency admissions for people with neurological conditions between 2004-05 and 2009-10; and what steps he plans to take to address this issue. [94862]
Paul Burstow: We have made no assessment of the factors underlying the rise in emergency admissions, as reported in the National Audit Office report on services for those living with neurological conditions..
We are considering the findings of the National Audit Office report on services for people with neurological conditions and will be responding in due course.
Mr Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, with reference to the National Audit Office report on neurological services, if he will ensure that neurological conditions have similar national strategy and clinical leadership arrangements conditions to conditions such as cancer and coronary heart disease. [95034]
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Paul Burstow: We are considering the findings of the National Audit Office report on services for people with neurological conditions and will be responding in due course. Health is a devolved matter; decisions concerning the organisation of neurological services are a matter for Ministers in the Northern Ireland Executive.
NHS Shared Business Services
Mr Spellar: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the answer of 17 January 2012, Official Report, column 774W, on the NHS, how many employees of NHS Shared Business Services are based in (a) the UK and (b) abroad; and what the corresponding figures are for any companies contracted to provide call centre services for NHS Shared Business Services. [94362]
Mr Simon Burns: NHS Shared Business Services employs a total of 1,427 people, of whom 671 are based in India and 756 are based in the United Kingdom.
NHS Shared Business Services has no companies contracted to provide call centre services.
NHS: Ancillary Staff
Andrew George: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when he expects to publish the results of the non-medical workforce census taken on 30 September 2011; and on what dates previous censuses were published in each of the last three years. [95087]
Mr Simon Burns: The annual non-medical workforce census taken on 30 September 2011 will be published by the NHS Information Centre on 21 March 2012. The last three annual workforce censuses were published on 22 March 2011, 25 March 2010 and 25 March 2009.
NHS: Crimes of Violence
Ms Abbott: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many (a) violent incidents against NHS staff, (b) physical assaults against NHS staff and (c) criminal sanctions against individuals who had assaulted NHS staff there were in each (i) NHS hospital trust, (ii) strategic health authority area and (iii) England in (A) 2010 and (B) 2011. [94505]
Mr Simon Burns: Information on violent incidents against national health service staff is not available centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
The following table shows the number of reported physical assaults against NHS staff in each strategic health authority (SHA) area and the total in England in 2009-10 and 2010-11.
| SHA area | 2009-10 | 2010-11 |
20 Feb 2012 : Column 704W
The following table shows the number of criminal sanctions following assaults against NHS staff in each SHA area and the total in England in 2009-10 and 2010-11.
| SHA area | 2009-10 | 2010-11 |
Cautions and Conditional Cautions;
Community Rehabilitation or Punishment Orders;
Conditional Discharges;
Fines;
Fixed Penalty Notices; and
Imprisonment (including suspended sentences).
Information on the number of reported physical assaults against NHS staff and criminal sanctions following assaults, broken down by health body, for the years 2009-10 and 2010-11 is in the tables showing the number of reported physical assaults on NHS staff in 2009-10, broken down by NHS trust/PCT and ‘Tables showing the number of reported physical assaults on NHS staff in 2010-11, broken down by NHS Trust/PCT’, which have already been placed in the Library.
NHS: Negligence
Andrew George: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much has been paid out in respect of (a) all settled claims and (b) settled claims arising from obstetric care under the Clinical Negligence Scheme for Trusts in the last five-year period for which figures are available. [95130]
Mr Simon Burns: The data requested are set out in the following tables.
| Table 1: All payments for clinical negligence scheme for trusts (CNST) claims closed 2006-07 to 2010-11 excluding claims settled as periodical payments | ||||||
| Year of closure | N umber of claims closed | N umber of claims closed with damages | Damages paid (£) | Defence costs paid (£) | Claimant costs paid (£) | Total p aid (£) |
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| Source: NHS Litigation Authority | ||||||
| Table 2: All payments for CNST claims settled 2006-07 to 2010-11 as periodical payments as at 31 January 2012 | |||||
| Year of settlement | N umber of claims settled | Damages paid (£) | Defence costs paid (£) | Claimant costs paid (£) | Total paid (£) |
| Source: NHS Litigation Authority | |||||
| Table 3: All payments for obstetrics CNST claims closed 2006-07 to 2010-11 excluding claims settled as periodical payments | ||||||
| Year of closure | N umber of claims closed | N umber of claims closed with damages | Damages paid (£) | Defence costs paid (£) | Claimant costs paid (£) | Total paid (£) |
| Source: NHS Litigation Authority | ||||||
| Table 4: All payments for obstetrics CNST claims settled 2006-07 to 2010-11 as periodical payments as at 31 January 2012 | |||||
| Year of settlement | N umber of claims settled | Damages paid (£) | Defence costs paid (£) | Claimant costs paid (£) | Total paid (£) |
| Source: NHS Litigation Authority | |||||
NHS: Private Sector
Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans he has to encourage greater use of private sector incentives in NHS procurement; and if he will make a statement. [94378]
Mr Simon Burns: The Department is working on a new procurement strategy to be launched in April. This is in response to the Committee of Public Accounts report on the Procurement of Consumables in the NHS Acute and Foundation Trusts.
The strategy will help trusts deliver better practice in procurement and will include guidance for better use of private sector partners. However, it is up to individual trusts to decide when and how to use private sector organisations and incentives.
NHS: Reorganisation
Steve Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will take steps to ensure health service restructuring does not occur where the public consultation process determines that the majority of local people are opposed. [95133]
Mr Simon Burns:
The Government are clear that any changes to local health services should be locally-led, improve quality and with decisions made in the best interest of patients. Under section 242 of the National Health Service (NHS) Act 2006, NHS organisations must make arrangements that secure the involvement of people who use services in the development and consideration of proposals for changes in the way those services are provided. This was strengthened further in 2010 by the Secretary of State's four reconfiguration tests, which require NHS organisations to demonstrate evidence of: robust public and patient engagement;
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support from local clinical commissioners; support for patient choice; and clarity on the clinical evidence base. Where local communities have concerns over proposals, we would expect the NHS to listen and respond to these concerns as part of any engagement activity.
The outcome of a service reconfiguration consultation is also subject to scrutiny by local authority scrutiny committees. Where a committee is not satisfied with the content of the consultation, or that the proposal is in the interests of the health service in its area, it has powers to refer these issues to the Secretary of State. In addition, the Government propose in the Health and Social Care Bill to extend the powers of local authorities to enable effective scrutiny of any provider of any NHS-funded services.
Nurses: Schools
Ms Abbott: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the ratio of fully-qualified school nurses to the number of schools was in England in (a) 2010 and (b) 2011. [94386]
Anne Milton: The ratio of school nurses to schools is not collected by the Department.
In 2010 there were 1,104 full-time equivalent qualified school nurses. Figures for 2011 will be available from April 2012.
Obesity
Ms Abbott: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what public health campaigns targeted at the prevention and management of obesity his Department ran in (a) 2010 and (b) 2011; what the (i) start and (ii) end date was of each such campaign; and how much his Department (A) allocated and (B) spent on each campaign. [94387]
Anne Milton: The Change4Life campaign has been the only public health campaign targeting at the prevention and management of obesity from its launch in January 2009 to the present. The budget for the campaign has been as follows:
| £ million | |
Ms Abbott: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the rate of obesity amongst adults was in (a) 2010 and (b) 2011 in each primary care trust area. [95549]
Anne Milton: Information is not available in the format requested.
Information on the percentage of obese adults aged 16 and over in England is available in the ‘Health Survey for England—2010 trend tables', Adult trend tables, Table 4. Information is provided for the years 1993 to 2010. This information is available from the following:
www.ic.nhs.uk/pubs/hse10trends
Information on the prevalence of obesity in adults by primary care trust (PCT) area is not available. However, information is available by strategic health authority (SHA) for 2010. The percentage of adults aged 16 and
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over recorded as obese by SHA area for 2010 is available in Table 10.3 on page 15 of chapter 10—Adult anthropometric measures, overweight and obesity of the ‘Health Survey for England—2010: Respiratory health'. The information is available from the following:
www.ic.nhs.uk/pubs/hse10report
These publications have been placed in the Library.
Organs: Donors
Mr Timpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the level of organ donation was in each year from 1997. [94950]
Anne Milton: The information is provided in the following table.
| Solid organ donors in the United Kingdom, between 1 April 1996 and 31 December 2011 | |||
| Financial year of donation | Deceased donor | Living donor | Total |
| Note: ‘The level of organ donation’ has been taken to mean the number of donors that have donated their organs in the given time frame. Source: NHS Blood and Transplant | |||
Mr Timpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans his Department has to increase levels of organ donation. [94951]
Anne Milton: Since the publication of the report by the Organ Donation Taskforce in 2008, a great deal of work has taken place to strengthen the donation programme and increase the number of organs available for patients. There are now over 200 highly trained Specialist Nurses for Organ Donation based in hospitals across the country and NHS Blood and Transplant is continuing to train and recruit more staff into this vital role. Clinical Leads for Organ Donation have been appointed in every acute hospital, working closely with hospital Organ Donation Committees, to increase donation rates. This means that we are on track to meet the 50% improvement in deceased donor rates by 2013 anticipated by the taskforce, with latest available figures showing that deceased donor numbers have increased by 31.4%.
A Transitional Steering Group (TSG), chaired by Chris Rudge, has been established to help maintain the momentum achieved pending the introduction of the NHS Commissioning Board. During the transitional period the TSG will be focusing on the six big wins—optimising deceased donation rates through undertaking brainstem death testing and considering donation after
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cardiac death in all appropriate circumstances, increasing consent rates, increasing donation from emergency medicine, timely referral of donors and better donor management.
Mr Timpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment his Department has made of the (a) demand for and (b) take-up of organ donation. [94952]
Anne Milton: The information is provided in the following table.
| Table: Number of organ donors and organ transplants in the United Kingdom, 1 April 2008 to 31 March 2011, and patients on the active transplant list as at 31 March | |||
| Financial year | |||
| 2008-09 | 2009-10 | 2010-11 | |
| Notes: 1. ‘Demand for organ donation’ has been taken to mean the number of people waiting for an organ transplant. Figures are provided for the active waiting list at the end of each financial year—‘Active’ means the patient is currently in a state to receive a transplant. 2. ‘Take up of organ donation’ has been taken to mean the number of organ transplants that have taken place. This differs from the number of donors as a donor can donate more than one organ. Source: NHS Blood and Transplant | |||
Gareth Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people in (a) Dartford constituency and (b) Kent were registered as organ donors in each of the last five years. [95074]
Anne Milton: The Information requested is provided in the following table.
| Number of registrations on the organ donor register (ODR) in Kent county and Dartford constituency, 1 January 2007 to 31 December 2011, by year | ||
| Year of registration (1) | Kent (2) | Dartford (2) |
| (1) This is based on registrants on the ODR as at 9 February 2012 and excludes people who registered in this time period and have subsequently died or been removed from the ODR. (2) Areas defined from the Office for National Statistics postcode datasets. (3) The current total number of registrations on the ODR as at 9 February 2012. Source: NHS Blood and Transplant. | ||
Osteoporosis: Surgery
Justin Tomlinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps his Department is taking to ensure NHS patients have access to total joint replacements to treat debilitating osteoarthritic conditions within the 18 week target time. [94716]
Paul Burstow:
The NHS Medical Directorate is working to support the Arthritis and Musculoskeletal Alliance in identifying the means to improve services for patients with common musculoskeletal conditions, including
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osteoarthritis. It is also in discussion with the British Orthopaedic Association about the development of a strategic partnership to address a number of issues relating to trauma and orthopaedic surgery.
In 2012-13, the Department will pilot ways in which the national health service can use and offer alternative providers to deliver the NHS Constitution 18-week maximum waiting time right in the best interests of patients. The pilots will focus especially on orthopaedics and the lessons will be available for full roll-out from April 2013.
Out-of-area Treatment: Scotland
Cathy Jamieson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the answer of 10 January 2012, Official Report, columns 120-1W, on out-of-area treatment: Scotland, how many elective surgeries were carried out in the private sector; and how many were for specialist treatment not available in Scotland. [95564]
Mr Simon Burns: The Department of Health and the NHS Information Centre for health and social care in England do not collect information on independent sector activity in England that has been funded by NHS Scotland.
Palliative Care: Costs
Brandon Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate he has made of the cost of end-of-life care in hospitals in England in the latest period for which figures are available. [94787]
Paul Burstow: This information is not collected centrally.
The Department conducted special exercises to collect information on expenditure by primary care trusts on specialist palliative care in 2006-07 and 2010-11. These data include some information on expenditure in hospitals. However, this does not provide a full picture of expenditure in hospitals and we do not know how many patients receive end-of-life care in hospitals or the cost of that care. These data are available on the Department's website:
www.dh.gov.uk/en/Publicationsandstatistics/Publications/PublicationsPolicyAndGuidance/DH_086277
www.dh.gov.uk/en/Publicationsandstatistics/Publications/PublicationsPolicyAndGuidance/DH_130239
The Government have made a commitment to develop a per-patient funding system for palliative care. We set up the independent palliative care funding review to help take this work forward.
The review, which reported in July 2011, came up with a range of significant proposals which we now need to consider in detail. One of its key conclusions was that “There is a stunning lack of good data surrounding costs for palliative care in England.” It recommended that a number of pilots be set up to collect data and refine its proposals, due to the lack of good quality data currently available. So, from April 2012 we shall be setting up pilots to collect a range of data to help test the review's recommendations. Our aim is have to have a new funding system in place by 2015, a year sooner than the review proposed.
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Palliative Care: Standards
Brandon Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps he is taking to improve care for end-of-life patients. [94785]
Paul Burstow: The Government have confirmed their commitment to improving quality and choice in palliative and end of life care in the White Paper ‘Equity and excellence: Liberating the NHS’. The Department's ‘End of Life Care Strategy’ provides a blueprint for improving these services for adults and we are pressing on with its implementation.
We are making progress in implementing the strategy. This includes: providing support for staff training and development in end of life care; completing pilots of locality registers (now called Electronic Palliative Care Co-ordination Systems), which will allow all local services to co-ordinate care more effectively; introducing a national survey of the bereaved to help us understand the experience for patients and carers; and establishing a national coalition of organisations, Dying Matters, to raise public awareness of issues around death, dying and bereavement. The ‘End of Life Care Strategy Third Annual Report’, which sets out progress in implementing the strategy, was published in September 2011. A copy has already been placed in the Library and is available on the Department's website at:
www.dh.gov.uk/en/Publicationsandstatistics/Publications/PublicationsPolicyAndGuidance/DH_130239
The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence has published a Quality Standard on end of life care for adults.
In addition, we are undertaking work to develop a fairer funding system for palliative care, following on from the report of the independent Palliative Care Funding Review.
Pharmacy
Huw Irranca-Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will consider making quick and convenient supply of prescription medications to local pharmacies a legal obligation on the manufacturer and supplier. [95488]
Mr Simon Burns: Best practice guidance was jointly agreed by the Government and organisations representing various parts of the supply chain. This said that the aim of all parties should be that, under normal circumstances, pharmacies should receive medicines within 24 hours. The Government are cautious about increasing the regulatory burden on the supply chain.
Huw Irranca-Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the legal duties of pharmaceutical manufacturers and suppliers to ensure adequate domestic supply of medications to local pharmacists. [95491]
Mr Simon Burns: Article 81 of European directive 2001/83, requires the maintenance of appropriate and continued supply of medicinal products by marketing authorisation holders and distributors so that the needs of patients are covered. Article 81 has been implemented into United Kingdom medicines legislation.
The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), the Government body responsible
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for the safety and licensing of medicines in the UK, investigate all reports of suspected breaches of medicines legislation including matters relating to Article 81. The MHRA has reminded distributors of their duties in this area, and continues to undertake targeted inspections to ensure compliance with the regulations.
The Department, the MHRA and pharmaceutical supply chain stakeholders are working collaboratively to better understand and mitigate the impact of supply difficulties to ensure that patients receive the medicines they need. In February 2011 the group published joint guidance ‘Best Practice for Ensuring the Efficient Supply and Distribution of Medicines to Patients’ and a copy has already been placed in the Library.
The guidance provides a sound basis for helping to ensure that patients get their medicines when they need them.
Physiotherapy: Finance
David Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what criteria primary care trusts use to determine which types of physiotherapy to provide funding for. [95485]
Anne Milton: It is the responsibility of local national health service organisations to commission services to meet the needs of their community including the provision of physiotherapy services. Each physiotherapist will assess the patient and decide what type of physiotherapy to use based on the patient’s clinical need.
Pregnancy
Ms Abbott: To ask the Secretary of State for Health for what reason the Public Health Outcomes Framework does not include an indicator for conception among women over the age of 18; and what assessment his Department has made on the potential effect of the limitation of the under 18 conceptions indicator on delivering improved public health outcomes for women over the age of 18; and if he will make a statement. [95367]
Anne Milton: ‘Improving Outcomes and Supporting Transparency: a public health outcomes framework for England’, published on 23 January 2012, a copy of which has already been placed in the Library, contains indicators which can make the maximum contribution to the overarching aims of increasing healthy life expectancy and reducing health inequalities. It includes an indicator on reducing under 18 conceptions as evidence shows that teenage pregnancy can lead to adverse outcomes for both teenage parents and their children. We consider that adults aged 18 and over should be able to make their own decisions about how many children they have and indicators that seek to limit this choice are not appropriate. Once higher quality data become available we will consider developing an indicator which measures access to the full range of contraception.
Primary Care Trusts: Finance
Mr Ainsworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) whether his Department has issued amended guidance to primary care trusts on procedures for the consideration of individual funding requests; [95014]
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(2) on how many occasions Coventry Primary Care Trust has refused an individual funding request in each of the last five years. [95016]
Mr Simon Burns: The Department published “Defining Guiding Principles for Processes supporting Local Decision Making about Medicines” in January 2009, “Supporting rational local decision-making about medicines (and treatments)—A handbook of good practice guidance” was published by the National Prescribing Centre (NPC) in February 2009, and Directions to primary care trusts (PCTs) and national health service trusts concerning decisions about drugs and other treatments were issued in March 2009. All remain extant.
The NPC has subsequently produced resources and information to support those involved in local decision making. Further information is available on the NPC's website at:
www.npc.nhs.uk/local_decision_making
Information on PCT decisions on individual funding requests is not collected centrally.
Primary Care Trusts: Redundancy Pay
Andy Burnham: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the cost to the public purse was of staff redundancies in each primary care trust area since April 2010. [95613]
Mr Simon Burns: The information is not collected in the format requested.
The total resource cost of exit packages for primary care trust (PCT) staff leaving their organisation in 2010-11 was £168.7 million. A table breaking down this cost for each PCT has been placed in the Library. The total value of £168.7 million includes £60 million for compulsory redundancies and £108.7 million for other departures. The figure for other departures includes the cost of both early retirements (excluding those relating to ill-health) and voluntary redundancies. However, it is not possible to separately identify the value of either of these costs from the data collected.
Figures for the 2011-12 financial year will be available in the summer, once the Department's Annual Report and Accounts are laid before Parliament.
Private Patients: Health Insurance
Paul Uppal: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will bring forward legislative proposals to compel private health care providers to have full indemnity cover for NHS patients. [94659]
Mr Simon Burns: The NHS Standard Contract requires providers to obtain appropriate indemnity in relation to clinical negligence.
The Government's aim is for equivalent safeguards to be in place for patients irrespective of who provides their NHS services. The Department will therefore be asking the NHS Litigation Authority for advice on options for modifying the existing clinical negligence scheme for trusts to enable all providers of NHS services to be members.
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Ritalin
Mr Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the change was in the level of dispensed prescriptions of methylphenidate hydrochloride in England between 1997 and 2010. [95044]
Mr Simon Burns: Prescription cost analysis data show that in 1997, 92,079 prescription items for methylphenidate hydrochloride were dispensed in the community, in England. This compares with 661,463 prescription items in 2010. This represents an increase of 569,384 items (618.4%).
Mr Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps his Department is taking to monitor the use of methylphenidate hydrochloride in children under 16 years old. [95045]
Anne Milton: Information on numbers of prescriptions is taken from the Prescription Cost Analysis (PCA) system, supplied by the Prescription Services Division of the NHS Business Services Authority. The PCA system is not able to provide information on numbers of prescriptions by age of patients.
In respect of the use of methylphenidate hydrochloride in the treatment of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) for children and young people, in December 2011, the Chief Medical Officer, the Chief Nursing Officer, the Chief Pharmaceutical Officer and the NHS Medical Director wrote to national health service clinicians and staff drawing their attention to the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) guideline on ADHD. This guideline highlights the need for any drug treatment for children and young people to always form part of a comprehensive treatment plan (including psychological, behaviour and educational advice and interventions). It is important that a range of clinicians—paediatricians and general practitioners as well as child and adolescent mental health service professionals—is well informed on the diagnosis and treatment of mental health problems in children and young people.
Psychological therapies can in some cases form part of the holistic package of care that NICE recommended for children and young people with ADHD. High-quality, evidence-based treatment with a focus on individual patient outcomes is central to our programme to transform mental health services for children.
The Department does not have data on the number of children and young people assessed with ADHD, against which prescribing patterns could be compared.
Social Services: Registration
Jeremy Corbyn: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will take steps to ensure that social workers who register or renew their membership of the General Social Care Council before July 2012 either (a) receive a rebate for the remaining amount of their membership when the General Social Care Council ceases to exist as the registration body or (b) have their membership automatically rolled over to the successor body. [95501]
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Paul Burstow: Subject to parliamentary approval of the Health and Social Care Bill, all social workers on the General Social Care Council's register of social workers will automatically transfer to the Health Professions Council's register on 1 August 2012. They will then have up to four months to pay the registration fee to the Health Professions Council.
Jeremy Corbyn: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what guidelines he has provided to the Health Professions Council on the registration of social workers. [95502]
Paul Burstow: The Health and Social Care Bill sets out the proposed statutory framework for the regulation of social workers in England by the Health Professions Council.
No formal guidelines have been given to the Health Professions Council by the Secretary of State for Health on the registration of social workers. The Health Professions Council is an independent statutory body and it will be for the council itself to determine the approach to regulating social workers in England according to the statutory requirements.
The Health Professions Council has established a professional liaison group, which includes representatives of social workers, employers, education providers and
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service users to consider the standards of proficiency and the threshold level of qualifications for social workers in England.
Suicide
Jo Swinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when he expects to publish his Department's suicide prevention strategy. [94883]
Paul Burstow: We are currently considering the responses we received to the consultation on a new suicide prevention strategy and intend to publish later this year.
Surgery
Dr Wollaston: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to his answer of 1 February 2012, Official Report, column 683W, on surgery, what the (a) mean and (b) median waiting time was for open excision of the prostate procedures for patients aged (i) 15 to 39, (ii) 40 to 49, (iii) 50 to 54, (iv) 55 to 59, (v) 60 to 64, (vi) 65 to 69, (vii) 70 to 74 and (viii) over 75 years in each of the last three years for which figures are available. [95480]
Mr Simon Burns: The information is shown in the following table:
| Mean and median time waited (days) (1) for finished admission episodes (FAEs) (2) with a main operative procedure (3) of open excision of the prostate for the years 2008-09 to 2010-11 | ||||||
| Activity in English NHS hospitals and English NHS commissioned activity in the independent sector | ||||||
| 2008-09 | 2009-10 | 2010-11 | ||||
| Age group | Mean time waited | Median time waited | Mean time waited | Median time waited | Mean time waited | Median time waited |
| (1 ) Time waited (days) Time waited (days) statistics from Hospital Episode Statistics (HES) are not the same as published Referral to Treatment (RTT) time waited statistics. HES provides counts and time waited for all patients between decision to admit and admission to hospital within a given period. Published RTT waiting statistics measure the time waited between referral and start of treatment. The mean time waited is calculated by summing the time waited for all appropriate FAEs and dividing by the number of FAEs, where the record contains a valid time waited. The median is the middle value when all records with a valid time waited are placed in ascending order of time waited. (2 ) Finished admission episodes A finished admission episode (FAE) is the first period of inpatient care under one consultant within one health care provider. FAEs are counted against the year in which the admission episode finishes. Admissions do not represent the number of inpatients, as a person may have more than one admission within the year. (3 ) Main procedure The first recorded procedure or intervention in each episode, usually the most resource intensive procedure or intervention performed during the episode. It is appropriate to use main procedure when looking at admission details, (eg time waited), but a more complete count of episodes with a particular procedure is obtained by looking at the main and the secondary procedures. Note: OPCS 4.5 codes used: M34.1—Cystoprostatectomy M61—Open excision of Prostate Source: Hospital Episode Statistics (HES), Health and Social Care Information Centre | ||||||
Dr Wollaston:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the (a) mean and (b) median waiting time was for (i) hip replacement, (ii) knee replacement, (iii) coronary artery bypass graft, (iv) cochlea implant and (v) cholecystectomy procedures for patients aged (A) 15 to 39, (B) 40 to 49, (C) 50 to 54, (D) 55 to 59,
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(E) 60 to 64, (F) 65 to 69, (G) 70 to 74 and (H) 75 years and over in each of the last three years for which data are available. [95481]
Mr Simon Burns: The information is shown in the following tables:
| Mean and median time waited (1) (days) for finished admissions episodes (2) (FAEs) where a main operative procedure (3) as identified has been carried out, by specified age groups for 2008-09, 2009-10 and 2010-11 | ||||||
| Activity in English NHS Hospitals and English NHS commissioned activity in the independent sector | ||||||
| Hip replacement | ||||||
| 2008-09 | 2009-10 | 2010-11 | ||||
| Age group | Mean time waited | Median time waited | Mean time waited | Median time waited | Mean time waited | Median time waited |
| Knee replacement | ||||||
| 2008-09 | 2009-10 | 2010-11 | ||||
| Age group | Mean t ime w aited | Median t ime w aited | Mean t ime w aited | Median t ime w aited | Mean t ime w aited | Median t ime w aited |
| Coronary artery bypass graft | ||||||
| 2008-09 | 2009-10 | 2010-11 | ||||
| Age Group | Mean time waited | Median time waited | Mean time waited | Median time waited | Mean time waited | Median time waited |
| Cochlear Implant | ||||||
| 2008-09 | 2009-10 | 2010-11 | ||||
| Age group | Mean time waited | Median time waited | Mean time waited | Median time waited | Mean time waited | Median time waited |
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| Cholecystectomy | ||||||
| 2008-09 | 2009-10 | 2010-11 | ||||
| Age group | Mean time waited | Median time waited | Mean time waited | Median time waited | Mean time waited | Median time waited |
| (1) Time waited (days) Time waited (days) statistics from hospital episode statistics (HES) are not the same as published referral to treatment (RTT) time waited statistics. HES provides counts and time waited for all patients between decision to admit and admission to hospital within a given period. Published RTT waiting statistics measure the time waited between referral and start of treatment. The mean time waited is calculated by summing the time waited for all appropriate FAEs and dividing by. the number of FAEs, where the record contains a valid time waited. The median is the middle value when all records with a valid time waited are placed in ascending order of time waited. (2 ) Finished admission episodes A finished admission episode (FAE) is the first period of inpatient care under one consultant within, one healthcare provider. FAEs are counted against the year in which the admission episode finishes. Admissions do not represent the number of inpatients, as a person may have more than one admission within the year. (3) Main procedure The first recorded procedure or intervention in each episode, usually the most resource intensive procedure or intervention performed during the episode. It is appropriate to use main procedure when looking at admission details, (eg time waited), but a more complete count of episodes with a particular procedure is obtained by looking at the main and the secondary procedures. Operative procedure codes were revised from 2006-07. 2009-10 data uses OPCS 4.5 codes, 2008-09 and 2007-08 data uses OPCS 4.4 codes, 2006-07 data uses OPCS 4.3 codes, data prior to 2006-07 uses OPCS 4.2 codes. All codes that were in OPCS 4.2 remain in later OPCS 4 versions, however the introduction of OPCS 4.3 codes enable the recording of interventions and procedures which were not possible in OPCS 4.2. In particular, OPCS 4.3, 4.4 and 4.5 codes include high cost drugs and diagnostic imaging, testing and rehabilitation. Some such activity may have been coded under different codes in OPCS 4.2. These changes may explain some apparent variations over time. Care needs to be taken in using the newer codes as some providers of data did not start using the new codes at the beginning of each data year. More information about OPCS 4 changes is on the Connecting for Health website: www.connectingforhealth.nhs.uk Source: Hospital Episode Statistics (HES), Health and Social Care Information Centre | ||||||
Surgery: Medical Equipment
Ms Abbott: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the cost was of disposable surgical instruments in each category supplied to the NHS in (a) 2010 and (b) 2011. [94502]
Mr Simon Burns: The cost of disposable surgical instruments supplied to the national health service is not held centrally by the Department. However, the hon. Member may wish to contact individual NHS trusts for this information.
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Tuberculosis
Ms Abbott: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many cases of (a) tuberculosis and (b) drug-resistant tuberculosis there were in each primary care trust area in (i) 2010 and (ii) 2011. [94559]
Anne Milton: The information is not available in the format requested.
Information given by local authority, and as a three year average (2008-10) because the small numbers at individual local authority level in any one year could result in deductive disclosure of identity, has been placed in the Library.
Provisional data for 2011 will not be available until March 2012.
Education
16-19 Bursary Fund
Mr Woodward: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what information his Department holds on the number of (a) applicants and (b) recipients of the 16 to 19 Bursary Scheme in (i) St Helens South and Whiston constituency, (ii) the north west and (iii) England; and what the level was of such awards. [95191]
Mr Gibb: Information on the numbers of young people who have benefitted from the 16-19 Bursary Fund since it began in September last year is not held centrally. Information on payments made in St Helens South and Whiston will be held by the schools and colleges concerned.
Academies
Jake Berry: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many schools have (a) converted and (b) applied to convert to academy status in (i) Rossendale and Darwen constituency, (ii) Lancashire and (iii) England. [93820]
Mr Gibb: As at 1 February 2012:
(i) one school in Rossendale and Darwen constituency had applied and converted to academy status;
(ii) 20 schools have applied in Lancashire and 16 have converted; and
(iii) and 1,861 schools have applied in England, of which 1,243 have converted.
Full details of schools that have converted to academy status can be found on the Department for Education Academies website at:
http://www.education.gov.uk/schools/leadership/typesofschools/academies/a0069811/schools-submitting-applications-and-academies-that-have-opened-in-201011
Tom Blenkinsop: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many academy orders he has made by virtue of a school being eligible for intervention in (a) 2011 and (b) 2012. [93826]
Mr Gibb: Two academy orders were made by the Secretary of State for Education by virtue of a school being eligible for intervention in 2011. None has so far been made in 2012.
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Academies: Sixth Form Education
Mr Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Education pursuant to the answer of 6 February 2012, Official Report, column 41W, on academies, whether he plans that academy schools without post-16 provision will establish post-16 courses within the academy itself to ensure that all Year 11 pupils participate in education or training post-16. [94686]
Mr Gibb: Raising the participation age to ensure all young people participate in education or training post-16 does not mean that young people will be required to stay at school. Young people will be required to participate in education or training but can choose to do so through a number of routes: full-time education, which may be at a school but also at a college or otherwise; an apprenticeship, or full-time work with part-time education alongside.
There is no expectation that any schools, including academies, will need to establish post-16 courses unless they wanted to do so. We secured sufficient resources through the Spending Review 2010 to fund a place in education for all 16 and 17-year-olds and, in fact, it is likely that any significant amount of extra provision needed to deliver full participation will not be in school settings but will be in other routes such as apprenticeships and further education colleges. It is for local authorities to identify the educational needs of young people in its area, and the needs of employers, and to ensure this is reflected in the provision that is made available.
From September, schools will be placed under a duty to secure access to independent and impartial careers guidance on the full range of 16 to 18 education and training options so that young people will be given clear advice and supported onto the post-16 provision which is most appropriate for them.
Child Protection
Ian Austin: To ask the Secretary of State for Education when he plans to revise the children in need census to improve local authority data collection on child neglect. [93779]
Tim Loughton: In England, national data are collected through the children in need census on the number of children who are assessed by children's social care services as being children in need and the reasons why they are in need, including whether that is for abuse or neglect. Data are also collected on the number of children who are the subject of a child protection plan by category of abuse including a category for neglect.
The Department has been working with a range of stakeholders and sector leaders to take forward the Government's response to Professor Eileen Munro's recommendation for a revised suite of local and national performance information to drive improvements in children's safeguarding. It has now published the suite of local children's safeguarding performance information that local areas will collect, following agreement with the sector. On 23 January the Department launched a public consultation asking for views on the proposed children's safeguarding national performance data recommended by Professor Munro. This consultation
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will run until 16 April 2012 and following the consultation we will decide what changes need to be made to the children in need census. Any changes will take effect from, at the earliest, the 2013-14 census.
Children: Social Services
Mr Iain Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what the reduction in funding from his Department to Hartlepool borough council for children's social care was in (a) 2010-11 and (b) 2011-12; and what the average reduction in local authorities funding in England was for children's social care in the same period. [95402]
Tim Loughton: The planned spend on children's social care for Hartlepool local authority in 2010-11 was £13,783,000. In 2011-12 it was £13,369,000, a decrease of £413,000 (3%). The average local authority decrease over the same period was 1%.
These data come from the Section 251 budget return, in which LAs inform the Department of planned expenditure. The S251 budget collection on planned spend includes a wide range of expenditure on children and young people's services and social care. To calculate a figure for “children's social care” as requested, the following high level expenditure categories have been used:
a. Total children looked after
b. Total children and young people's safety
c. Total family support services
d. Total other children's and families services
e. Total children's services strategy.
Food Procurement
Neil Parish: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what proportion of food purchased by his Department was produced in the UK in each of the last five years. [93718]
Tim Loughton: In the last two years the proportion of food purchased by the Department that was produced in the UK was as follows:
| Financial year | Percentage UK produce |
Previously, between 2007 and 2010, DEFRA published three annual reports on food procurement which covered the period April 2006 to March 2009. The final one of this series is available at:
http://archive.defra.gov.uk/foodfarm/policy/publicsectorfood/documents/100226-food-proc-initiative.pdf
These reports include an estimate of the proportion of domestically produced food procured for Government Departments and also supplied to hospitals and prisons under contracts negotiated by NHS Supply Chain and the National Offender Management Service. A summary of all three years is on page 4 of that document. These reports were laid in the House Libraries.
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Procurement: Capital Bonds
Mr Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what proportion of the total value of contracts issued or to be issued by his Department in 2011-12 have required successful organisations to put up a capital bond; and if he will make a statement. [94921]
Tim Loughton: To establish whether any of the Department’s contracts issued or to be issued in 2011-12 required the successful organisation to put up a capital bond would incur disproportionate costs.
Mr Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Education which contracts his Department has tendered or will tender in 2011-12 which require successful organisations to have a capital bond of more than £5 million; which contracts have not required such a bond; and if he will make a statement. [94941]
Tim Loughton: To establish whether the Department has tendered, or will tender in 2011-12, contracts which will require successful organisations to have a capital bond of more than £5 million, and which contracts have not required such a bond, would incur disproportionate costs.
Dominic Cummings
John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Education (1) on how many occasions Dominic Cummings visited his Department between 12 May 2010 and 27 January 2011; [81302]
(2) on how many occasions Dominic Cummings visited him at his Department between 12 May 2010 and 27 January 2011. [81303]
Tim Loughton [holding answer 15 November 2012]: The Department for Education is not able to provide a definite figure for the number of occasions Mr Cummings visited the Department between 12 May 2010 and 27 January 2011. However, the Department can confirm that Mr Cummings was invited to 13 meetings between 12 May 2010 and 27 January 2011 which were held by the Secretary of State for Education, my right hon. Friend the Member for Surrey Heath (Michael Gove).
Education: Pilot Schemes
Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what the outcomes were of the pilot schemes conducted by local authorities on raising the education participation age. [94702]
Tim Loughton: Independent evaluations have been carried out on the first two phases of the raising the participation age (RPA) delivery projects. These reports present the learning from the project areas and highlight good practice and guiding principles for continued activities designed to achieve full participation. Both reports are available on the Department for Education's website:
http://education.gov.uk/childrenandyoungpeople/youngpeople/participation/rpa/a0075564/raising-the-participation-age-rpa-locally-led-delivery-projectstrials
20 Feb 2012 : Column 723W
From the phase two evaluation, a number of tools were developed which bring together the learning and emerging good practice from the work of the project areas in phases one and two. These tools set out more detailed examples of what the project areas have done, to help inform other areas as they consider their approach to RPA.
An evaluation of the third phase of the RPA delivery projects is currently under way and the final evaluation report will be available in June 2012.
A fourth phase of the delivery projects has been announced and will run from April 2012 to March 2013.
Females: Violence
Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what Inter-Ministerial Group meetings on the cross-Government Violence Against Women and Girls strategy Ministers in his Department (a) have and (b) have not attended; what steps he is taking to ensure coordinated work with other Government departments on the Violence Against Women and Girls strategy; and if he will make a statement. [95547]
Tim Loughton: I attended the inter-ministerial group meeting on the cross-government Violence Against Women and Girls strategy held in July 2010. I was represented by senior officials at IMG meetings in October and December 2010. I attended the IMG meetings in February, October and December 2011. I did not attend the June 2011 meeting. The Department for Education is working closely with other Government Departments in respect of the actions to which it is committed in the cross Government VAWG strategy.
Free Schools
Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Education when he expects the first free school specialising in mathematics for 16 to 18 year-olds to open; how many 16 to 18 year-olds he expects to enrol in free schools specialising in mathematics by 2015; with which universities he has discussed these free schools; and what guidance he plans to provide to people who wish to apply to open such a school. [94701]
Mr Gibb: We are developing proposals on how specialist maths schools for 16 to 18-year-olds might operate and will announce further details in due course. We are keen to engage with all those who have an interest to explore possible models and innovative ideas.
Local Authorities: Children
Meg Munn: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many local authorities in England do not have a Director of Children's Services. [94742]
Tim Loughton: Section 18 of the Children's Act 2004 requires every upper tier local authority to appoint a Director of Children's Services. The Government's understanding is that all local authorities are compliant with this duty.
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Primary Education: Standards
Mr Umunna: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what steps his Department plans to take to collaborate with local authorities with large numbers of under-performing primary schools, as proposed in his June 2011 speech to the National College for School Leadership. [92965]
Mr Gibb [holding answer 6 February 2012]: We are determined to raise standards in underperforming schools. This is why in his speech to the National College of School Leadership on 16 June, the Secretary of State for Education, my right hon. Friend, the Member for Surrey Heath (Michael Gove), announced that as an urgent priority, we will start work on turning around 200 of the most consistently underperforming primary schools by finding academy sponsors for them. We are currently working with all local authorities to discuss their worst performing schools with a particular focus on 10 local authorities with the highest number of schools below the floor across the regions.
Pupil Exclusions
Kelvin Hopkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Education for how many permanently excluded pupils and students (a) of and (b) above compulsory school age his Department has (i) ongoing investigations and (ii) completed investigations into the circumstances for each of the last five years. [94801]
Mr Gibb: The Department for Education typically has very low numbers of ongoing investigations into the circumstances of a permanent exclusion. The total number of current investigations is less than three and it is the Department's policy not to release more details in these circumstances as they could lead to the identification of an individual.
Given the low number of investigations, the Department does not keep a record of the cases of permanent exclusion it has considered. To retrieve this information from archived correspondence would involve a disproportionate cost. However, the current number of ongoing cases is typical of the levels that the Department usually investigates.
Pupil Exclusions: Yorkshire and the Humber
Mr David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what proportion of pupils in (a) Haltemprice and Howden constituency, (b) East Yorkshire and (c) Yorkshire and Humber were excluded from school in each of the last 10 years for which figures are available. [95219]
Mr Gibb: Information on the number of permanent exclusions and the number of pupil enrolments with one or more fixed period exclusions is shown in the tables.
Data on fixed period exclusions was collected for the first time in 2003/04 via the Termly Exclusions Survey, and both fixed period and permanent exclusions were collected via the School Census for the first time in 2005/06. Data has been provided for 2005/06 to 2009/10. To provide data for further years would incur disproportionate cost.
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20 Feb 2012 : Column 726W
| Maintained primary, state-funded secondary and special schools (1, 2, 3) . Number of permanent exclusions (4) 2005/06 to 2009/10. Yorkshire and the Humber, East Riding of Yorkshire local authority and Haltemprice and Howden parliamentary constituency | ||||||
| Maintained primary, state-funded secondary and special schools | ||||||
| 2005/06 | 2006/07 | 2007/08 | ||||
| Number of permanent exclusions | Percentage of school population (5) | Number of permanent exclusions | Percentage of school population (5) | Number of permanent exclusions | Percentage of school population (5) | |
| Maintained primary, state-funded secondary and special schools | ||||
| 2008/09 | 2009/10 | |||
| Number of permanent exclusions | Percentage of school population (5) | Number of permanent exclusions | Percentage of school population (5) | |
| (1) Includes middle schools as deemed. (2) Includes city technology colleges and academies (including all-through academies). (3) Includes maintained and non-maintained special schools. Excludes general hospital schools. (4) Figures for the region and local authority were confirmed by local authorities as part of a data checking exercise, figures for the constituency are as provided by schools. (5) The number of permanent exclusions expressed as a percentage of the number (headcount) of pupils (excluding dually registered pupils) at January each year. (6) Less than 5, or a percentage based on less than 5. Note: Numbers have been rounded to the nearest 10. Source: School Census | ||||
| Maintained primary, state-funded secondary and special schools (1, 2, 3) . Number of pupil enrolments with one or more fixed period exclusions (4) 2005/06 to 2009/10. Yorkshire and the Humber, East Riding of Yorkshire local authority and Haltemprice and Howden parliamentary constituency | ||
| Maintained secondary schools | ||
| 2005/06 (5) | ||
| Number of pupil enrolments with one or more fixed period exclusions | Percentage of school population (6) | |
| Maintained primary, stale-funded secondary and special schools | ||||||||
| 2006/07 | 2007/08 | 2008/09 | 2009/10 | |||||
| Number of pupil enrolments with one or more fixed period exclusions | Percentage of school population (6) | Number of pupil enrolments with one or more fixed period exclusions | Percentage of school population (6) | Number of pupil enrolments with one or more fixed period exclusions | Percentage of school population (6) | Number of pupil enrolments with one or more fixed period exclusions | Percentage of school population (6) | |
| (1) Includes middle schools as deemed. (2) Includes city technology colleges and academies (including all-through academies). (3 )Includes maintained and non-maintained special schools. Excludes general hospital schools. (4) Pupils may be counted more than once if they moved schools during the year, or are registered at more than one school. (5) For the 2005/06 school year, only information on fixed period exclusions from secondary schools was available. (6) The number of pupil enrolments with one or more fixed period exclusions expressed as a percentage of the number (headcount) of pupils (excluding dually registered pupils) at January each year. Note: Numbers have been rounded to the nearest 10. Source: School Census | ||||||||