Prisons: Females
Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what steps his Department is taking to prevent drug and alcohol misuse among those entering women's prisons. [103378]
Mr Blunt: The Government are fully committed to addressing women's offending—both for their own good and that of the public. Many women offenders who end up in prison have highly complex needs and too many go through a revolving door of reoffending. We must ensure that women who offend are successfully rehabilitated, and that we take an approach to women in the criminal justice system that recognises their different and often complex needs, including developing responses to their substance misuse problems. The Ministry of Justice is working with the Department of Health to:
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pilot Drug Recovery Wings for short-sentenced, drug-dependent prisoners with continuity of treatment between prison and the community, including the provision of three such wings in women's prisons (HMPs New Hall, Askham Grange and Styal) from April 2012;
explore and test options for intensive community-based treatment alternatives to custody for offenders with alcohol or drug dependency, or mental health issues, with four women-only development sites services in Wirral, Bristol, Birmingham and Tyneside;
design and implement eight payment by results drug and alcohol recovery pilots where one of the outcomes to be incentivised is reduced reoffending; and
develop and, subject to business case approval, roll out youth and adult liaison and diversion services at police custody and courts by 2014, for offenders with a range of vulnerabilities, including substance misuse problems.
In addition, to help women in prison to address their drug or alcohol problem, the Department of Health is funding the re-commissioning of drug and alcohol treatment in all establishments.
Reoffenders: Curfews
Mr Buckland: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what evidence he has received on the relationship between curfew orders and reoffending rates. [103442]
Mr Blunt: The following response uses the Ministry of Justice's published proven reoffending statistics for England and Wales, broken down further by sentence type. These statistics are published on a quarterly basis and the latest bulletin, for the period April 2009 to March 2010, was published on 26 January 2012.
Table 1 shows the number of adult(1) offenders who were released on curfew (electronically monitored)(2) in each year between 2005 and 2009 and the proportion who reoffended within a one year follow-up period.
| Number of offenders (3) | Proportion of offenders who reoffend (percentage) | |
| 1. Offenders aged 18 years and over. 2. Curfew orders supervised by the probation service as a requirement attached to a community order or suspended sentence order. 3. This number does not represent all proven offenders. Offenders who commenced a court order are matched to the Police National Computer database. A certain proportion of these offenders cannot be matched and are, therefore, excluded from the offender cohort, ie the group of offenders for whom reoffending is measured. 4. Community orders and suspended sentence orders were introduced in the Criminal Justice Act 2003, which came into force on 4 April 2005. | ||
Table 2 shows the number of juvenile(1) offenders who were released on curfew(2) in each year between 2000 and 2009 and the proportion who reoffended within a one year follow-up period.
| Number of offenders (3) | Proporti on of offenders who re offend (percentage) | |
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| (1) Offenders aged 17 years and under. (2) The youth curfew order was one of nine separate youth sentences that were incorporated into the youth rehabilitation order, which came into effect for offences committed from 30 November 2009. A curfew requirement is one of 18 requirements that can be made as part of the youth rehabilitation order. It is important to note, however, that youth curfew orders will continue to exist for those that committed an offence before 30 November 2009. (3 )This number does not represent all proven offenders. Offenders who commenced a court order are matched to the Police National Computer database. A certain proportion of these offenders cannot be matched and are, therefore, excluded from the offender cohort, i.e. the group of offenders for whom reoffending is measured. (4) Data are not available for 2001 due to a problem with archived data on court orders. | ||
Proven reoffending is defined as any offence committed in a one year follow-up period and receiving a court conviction, caution, reprimand or warning in the one year follow-up. Following this one year period, a further six month waiting period is allowed for cases to progress through the courts. Reoffending rates for offenders receiving court orders with a curfew requirement should not be compared to the reoffending rates for other sentences, as there is no control for known differences in offender characteristics.
2009 is the latest full calendar year for which data are available.
Please note that reoffending statistics are available from the Ministry of Justice website at:
www.justice.gov.uk/statistics/reoffending/proven-re-offending
Translation Services
Dr Whitehead: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what steps he is taking to ensure that unregistered interpreters working in Crown and magistrates courts are identified and prosecuted. [104530]
Mr Blunt: Under the Ministry of Justice's Contract for Language Services, the contractor must:
ensure that an interpreter/translator of the appropriate agreed standard (qualifications, experience and vetting) is provided for each individual assignment;
ensure that all interpreters/translators can verify their identity and credentials to the relevant justice sector organisations for every assignment;
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ensure adherence to a code of conduct for interpreters/translators and any other rules or guidelines set by central Government; and
have in place robust procedures to deal with poor quality interpretation/translation and inappropriate behaviour.
The contractor has a formal investigation process for dealing with every reported issue. If the quality of any linguist is in question, the contractor will carry out the quality checks as highlighted in the investigation. Following this investigation they will either change the qualification status of the linguist while they carry out or recommend additional training or they will discontinue their engagement and strike them off the register.
Young Offenders
Mr Lammy: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many young offenders he expects to take part in the successor scheme to the Daedalus initiative. [103308]
Mr Blunt: Projected numbers will not be known until the appointment of providers later this year. I understand that the Greater London Authority (GLA) has invited organisations to bid to provide resettlement support for young offenders (aged 14 to 17) leaving custody as part of the Mayor's recently launched European Social Fund Youth Programme. This will run from 2012 to 2015 and serve the establishments where young people from London are placed. In the interim, the Youth Justice Board has committed to the continuation of its funding for the Heron Unit until September 2012, which will align with the outcome of the GLA bidding process.
Young Offenders: Haringey
Mr Lammy: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice pursuant to the answer of 16 January 2012, Official Report, column 516W, on young offenders: Haringey, how many young adult offenders from the London borough of Haringey were held in each (a) young offender institution and (b) prison in each month since May 2009. [103731]
Mr Blunt: All young offenders serving sentences of DYOI are held in appropriately designated YOI accommodation within the prison estate. The majority of this accommodation is in dedicated YOIs, although some establishments in the estate have a dual designation (designated both as a prison and a YOI) and hold both adult prisoners and young offenders.
The following table shows the number of offenders aged 18 to 20-years-old with a recorded residential address or proxy in the London borough of Haringey who were held in each predominant function male young offender institution, and each prison on a set day in each month where data is available since May 2009.
| Number and location of male and female young adult offenders (aged 18-20) originating from London borough of Haringey | ||||||||||
| 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | |||||||
| Location | May | Sep | Nov | Jan | Mar | May | Jul | Sep | Nov | Jan |
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Health
Accident and Emergency Departments
John Pugh: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment the Government has made of the reasons for the increase in the number of attendances at accident and emergency between 2002-03 and 2010-11 as recorded in his Department's statistics. [103833]
Mr Simon Burns: There are a variety of social and demographic factors that can contribute to an increase in accident and emergency (A&E) attendances. However, it is likely that growth in attendances has primarily been caused by: better recording of attendances due to increased focus on waiting times; the addition to the data collection, from 2002-03 onwards, of further A&E type facilities such as walk-in centres and better data collection over time from these facilities. The following tables show numbers of attendances and growth rate since 2002-03.
| Attendances (million) | ||||||
| Type of A&E | 2002-03 | 2003-04 | 2004-05 | 2005-06 | 2006-07 | 2007-08 |
| Type of A&E | 2008-09 | 2009-10 | 2010-11 | 2011-12 | Compound growth rate from 2002-03 (percentage) |
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| Notes: 1. From 2007-08, attendances at Independent Sector provided Type 3 services were included. 2. 2011-12 data sourced from weekly sitreps. | |||||
John Pugh: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate has been made of the proportion of people who attended accident and emergency more than (a) twice and (b) five times a year in the last period for which figures are available. [103869]
Mr Simon Burns: In the period 2010-11, there were 15,699,746 attendances at accident and emergency departments in England, by 10,593,710 individual patients. 1,042,939 (9.8%) patients attended more than twice, and 122,310 (1.2%) attended more than five times.
Source:
NHS Information Centre
Alzheimer’s Disease
Tom Blenkinsop: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the provision of health and social care for people with Alzheimer’s disease in the Tees Valley. [103404]
Paul Burstow: The provision of health and social care for people with Alzheimer’s disease is a matter for the local national health service and local authority. As such, the Department has made no assessment of these services in the Tees Valley.
Through the ‘NHS Operating Framework’, we have asked primary care trusts to work with local authorities and publish plans which set out the progress they have made on implementing the National Dementia Strategy. These plans are published locally and are not collected centrally by the Department. The hon. Member may wish to approach the chief executive of NHS Tees, the organisation responsible for commissioning services in the Tees Valley area, for further information.
Autism
Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will publish guidelines on commissioning services for those with conditions on the autistic spectrum. [103690]
Paul Burstow: The Department has no plans to publish guidelines on commissioning services for those with conditions on the autistic spectrum.
The adult autism strategy and its attendant statutory guidance both promote Joint Strategic Needs Assessments as the vehicle for health and social care services to properly plan for the needs of people with autism in their area; action to be expressed through joint commissioning strategies and business cases for local solutions.
Once it is established, it will be for the NHS Commissioning Board (the Board) to issue commissioning guidance to Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs).
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The Department will hold the Board to account through the Mandate to the Board, which will include the indicators in the NHS Outcomes Framework. NHS Outcomes Framework indicators include measurements on long- term conditions.
Health and well-being boards and CCGs will also be expected to ensure that they comply with all relevant legislation and statutory guidance including the Autism Act, adult autism strategy and its attendant statutory guidance.
Breasts: Plastic Surgery
Toby Perkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Health which private sector providers of PIP breast implants in the UK (a) have and (b) have not agreed to replace them free of charge; and how many patients are potentially entitled to a free replacement. [103806]
Mr Simon Burns: According to the information available on their websites or the replies to an earlier inquiry by the Independent Healthcare Advisory Service, the position for the larger providers of cosmetic surgery which have used PIP implants is as follows:
Free replacement (unconditional): BMI Healthcare, Bridgewater Hospital, Make Yourself Amazing, Spire Healthcare
Free replacement (if clinical need): Aspen Healthcare, Nuffield Healthcare, Ramsay Healthcare
Free replacement (if evidence of rupture): Harley Medical(1), Court House Clinics
Charge for replacement: Fairfield Hospital, Linia Cosmetic Surgery(2), Surgicare Medical Group, The Hospital Group, Transform
Position unclear: New Victoria Hospital.
Current evidence suggests that up to 45,000 women may have received a PIP implant from a private provider, although it is not known how many of these are still in place. In the Government's view, all these women should be entitled to a replacement without charge.
(1) If rupture is confirmed within six years of implantation
(2) No charge by provider or its surgeons—may charge for cost of implant
Care Homes: Standards
Bill Esterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what performance standards residential care homes are required to meet on quality of care. [104369]
Paul Burstow: All providers of regulated activities, including care homes, are required by law to register with the Care Quality Commission (CQC) and comply with the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2010.
CQC assesses care providers against 16 registration requirements governing essential levels of safety and quality. CQC has a wide range of independent enforcement powers that it can use if it considers providers are not meeting the requirements.
CQC is responsible for developing and consulting on its methodology for assessing whether providers are meeting the registration requirements. It published its ‘Guidance About Compliance: Essential standards of quality and safety’ in March 2010. This can be found on the CQC website at:
www.cqc.org.uk/sites/default/files/media/documents/gac_-_dec_2011_update.pdf
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Dental Services
Mr Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health for what reason (1) dentists are required to register with the Care Quality Commission as well as the General Dental Council; and if he will make a statement; [104974]
(2) all partners in a dental practice need to register individually with the Care Quality Commission; and if he will make a statement. [104996]
Mr Simon Burns: All providers of regulated activities are required to register with the Care Quality Commission (CQC). A service provider can be an individual, a partnership or an organisation. It is the legal entity responsible for providing the service that is required to register with CQC. Where an activity is provided by a partnership, all of the partners are required to be fit to carry on the regulated activity, but they are not required to register separately.
While the system of regulation operated by the General Dental Council focuses on individual professionals and their individual clinical fitness, regulation by the CQC focuses on the way systems and organisations are managed. This is as important in protecting patient safety as the competence of individual professionals. The CQC regulates the organisation that provides the services, and can take enforcement action against that body if it does not meet essential levels of safety and quality. Regulation by the CQC has additional benefits in that the CQC actively monitor providers' compliance against its registration requirements. This allows CQC to take swift action as soon as problems arise.
Mr Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what access the Care Quality Commission has to dental patients' records; and if he will make a statement; [104975]
(2) what the Care Quality Commission inspects in dental practices; and if he will make a statement. [104995]
Mr Simon Burns: Care Quality Commission (CQC) inspectors directly observe care and talk to patients or people using the service, as well as staff. Inspectors focus on identifying the provider's compliance against the 16 essential standards of safety and quality but will also describe what they see, hear and find, including care that is meeting the essential standard.
The Health and Social Care Act 2008 specifies that the CQC may require any person carrying on or managing a regulated activity to provide it with any information, documents or records, including personal and medical records, which the Commission considers it necessary or expedient to have for the purpose of any of its regulatory functions.
Sir Paul Beresford:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps he will take to discourage the illegal practice of tooth whitening carried out by anyone other than General Dental Council registered dentists or registered dental professionals under the guidance of a registered dentist; what steps he will take to ensure
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that prosecutions are brought when there is evidence of this practice taking place; and if he will make a statement. [R] [104606]
Mr Simon Burns: Last September the European Union adopted a new directive, which reinforced the position taken by the General Dental Council that tooth whitening is the practice of dentistry, which can only be carried out by a registered dentist or dental care professional. We plan to transpose the directive by 31 October 2012 through amendment to the Cosmetic Products (Safety) Regulations. New, more explicit legislation will aid the regulation of this potentially hazardous procedure. Meanwhile the General Dental Council continues to take action on the illegal practice of dentistry. For example, on 5 January 2012, a ‘cosmetologist’ was successfully prosecuted for offering tooth-whitening treatment.
Drugs: Delivery Services
Huw Irranca-Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 12 March 2012, Official Report, column 123W, on drugs: delivery services, if he will estimate the number of emergency deliveries made to pharmacies. [104126]
Mr Simon Burns: I refer the hon. Member back to the answer I gave him on 12 March 2012, Official Report, columns 122-23W.
Mr Denham: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what his policy is on the period for which emails sent and received by (a) Ministers, (b) officials, and (c) special advisers in his Department are retained; and whether such emails are recoverable from the IT systems in his Department after that period. [102945]
Mr Simon Burns: The Department's policy is to retain emails on the same basis as other records, according to business need, rather than for a specified period. Emails are retained in the Department's record keeping systems if they are needed for business use or accountability, and deleted as soon as possible when they no longer have business value. This policy reflects ‘model 2’ in the guidance issued by the Cabinet Office ‘Guidance on Private Office Records’ issued in 2009.
Deleted emails may be recovered from system backups taken for business continuity purposes, provided they were present when a backup was taken.
Employment and Support Allowance
Richard Graham: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what proportion of people appealing a decision on entitlement to employment and support allowance were successful in (a) 2010-11 and (b) 2011-12. [103314]
Chris Grayling: I have been asked to reply on behalf of the Department for Work and Pensions.
The information requested is not available.
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Epilepsy
Teresa Pearce: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 16 April 2012, Official Report, column 107W, on epilepsy study on late diagnosis, with reference to the fact that the hon. Member for Erith and Thamesmead has supplied the office of the Minister for Care Services with a copy of his letter of 8 February 2012, if he will now respond to the original question. [104993]
Paul Burstow: The Department's Policy Research Programme commissioned the Evidence for Policy and Practice Information and Co-ordinating Centre at the Institute of Education, in partnership with the Policy Research Unit on Cancer Awareness, Screening and Early Diagnosis to carry out a systematic rapid evidence assessment to identify the nature and extent of United Kingdom evidence on delayed diagnosis.
A number of conditions were identified where there was sufficient evidence to conduct an in-depth review. This included epilepsy but did not include non-epileptic seizure disorders at this stage.
The review is about late diagnosis rather than misdiagnosis. If misdiagnosis is identified as a factor in late diagnosis in the evidence assessment then this will be highlighted in the report.
Feedback from patient groups on late diagnosis was a factor in the decision to commission this study. Patients and patient groups have not been consulted as part of the systematic rapid evidence assessment to date, however, their involvement in consideration of the review findings and any next steps will be considered.
The final report of the systematic rapid evidence assessment is expected to be submitted to the Department in summer 2012. A plan to disseminate the findings will be considered.
General Practitioners: Foreign Nationals
Mr Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what documentation a foreign national who seeks to register with a GP is required to provide; [104613]
(2) whether a foreign national on a six month visitor's visa is entitled to register with a GP; [104614]
(3) on what grounds a GP whose list has not been closed may refuse an application to register from a foreign national. [104615]
Mr Simon Burns: Under the terms of their existing contract, general practitioners (GPs) have discretion in accepting applications to join their lists. However, they cannot turn down an applicant on discriminatory grounds. They can only turn down an application if the primary care trust has agreed that they can close their list to new patients or if they have other reasonable non-discriminatory grounds.
There is no formal requirement to provide documentation when registering with a GP. However, many GPs, when considering applications, request proof of identity and confirmation of address, but in doing so they must not act in a discriminatory way.
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A decision on whether to register a foreign national who has a six-month visitor visa is therefore currently for the GP to consider. However, we announced last year that a review was under way that is considering the future entitlement of foreign nationals to access free national health service care. A formal consultation will take place once that review has been completed should it result in proposals to change any current arrangements.
Health and Social Care Act 2012
Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what his timetable is for making regulations and orders under the Health and Social Care Act 2012; and if he will make a statement. [103900]
Mr Simon Burns: Many of the regulations and orders to be made under the Health and Social Care Act 2012 will come into force on 1 April 2013. This is the intended date for the NHS Commissioning Board to take on its full statutory functions; local authorities to take on new public health responsibilities; local Healthwatch organisations to come into being; and strategic health authorities and primary care trusts to be abolished. Other changes are planned for different dates. Healthwatch England will come into existence in October 2012, and the health special administration regime for organisations providing NHS services will come into force in April 2014. Negative statutory instruments and draft affirmative instruments will be laid in accordance with this timetable.
John Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what discussions has he had with the Scottish Minister for Health on provisions in the Health and Social Care Act that affect Scotland in regard to (a) the General Medical Council, (b) xenotransplantations and (c) abortions. [104958]
Anne Milton: Department of Health Ministers and the Scottish Minister for Health have not met specifically to discuss the Health and Social Care Act.
Provisions which apply to Scotland have been discussed at official level between the Department, the Scotland Office, and the Scottish Government.
The Health and Social Care Act 2012 does not make changes relating to xenotransplantation or abortion in Scotland. The Act does contain provisions relating to professional regulation. Those provisions relating to medical adjudication were a reserved matter, but were discussed with the Scottish Government in the normal manner.
Health Services
Julian Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the budget is of the North of England strategic health authority in financial year 2012-13. [103870]
Mr Simon Burns: The North of England strategic health authority cluster's allocation for its core administration costs in 2012-13 is £25.8 million.
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Julian Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many days per week the Chief Executive of NHS North of England works (a) within the strategic health authority cluster and (b) in his role as Chief Operating Officer of the NHS Commissioning Board Authority. [103871]
Mr Simon Burns: NHS North of England chief executive, Ian Dalton, has confirmed that he works two days per week in the chief operating officer role at the NHS Commissioning Board Authority and three days per week in his role as chief executive of NHS North of England.
Julian Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what measures are in place to prevent conflicts of interest between officials in roles in the NHS Commissioning Board Authority and roles held concurrently in strategic health authorities. [103872]
Mr Simon Burns: A paper on standards of business conduct, tabled at the NHS Commissioning Board Authority's board meeting on 2 February, set out the authority's policy on conflicts of interest for staff. This paper can be found on the authority's website at:
www.commissioningboard.nhs.uk/2012/01/26/board-meeting-020212/
As part of this policy, and as required by its standing orders, the authority maintains a publicly available register of its board members' interests. This register can be found on the authority's website at:
www.commissioningboard.nhs.uk/2012/01/16/register-of-members-interests/
Julian Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much expenditure per head of population there was in the (a) North Yorkshire and York Primary Care Trust area, (b) Bradford and Airedale Primary Care Trust area and (c) area covered by the Yorkshire and Humber strategic health authority in the financial year 2010-11. [104007]
Mr Simon Burns: The amounts spent per head of population in 2010-11 by North Yorkshire and York primary care trust (PCT) area, Bradford and Airedale PCT area and the sum of the constituent PCTs in the Yorkshire and Humber strategic health authority (SHA) patch are shown in the following table:
| Organisation | Expenditure per head of population 2010-11 (£) |
| Note: How much expenditure per head of population is interpreted to mean the total revenue expenditure of the PCTs, which is the net operating cost. The net operating cost is taken from the audited summarisation schedules of PCTs for 2010-11, from which the NHS (England) Summarised Accounts are prepared. This figure is divided by the PCTs’ resident population to derive the spend per head figure provided above. Source: Audited Summarisation Schedules for PCTs in England 2010-11 | |
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Maternity Services
Sheryll Murray: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the average number of babies was on a post-natal ward during night time hours at the Royal Cornwall Hospitals Trust in (a) 2009, (b) 2010 and (c) 2011. [103288]
Anne Milton: The information requested is not held centrally. The hon. Member may wish to contact the Royal Cornwall Hospitals NHS Trust directly for information on the number of babies on a post-natal ward during night time hours.
Midwives
Sheryll Murray: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many full-time permanent midwives were working in a single shift in (a) the South West, (b) South East Cornwall and (c) the city of Plymouth in the latest period for which figures are available. [103285]
Anne Milton: Information is not held in the format requested. The following table shows the ratio of national health service hospital and community health services: qualified midwives by nature of contract in the South West strategic health authority area and in each specified organisation as at 30 September 2011.
| NHS hospital and community health services: Qualified midwives by nature of contract in the South West strategic health authority area and in each specified organisation as at 30 September 2011 | ||
| Headcount | Full - time equivalent | |
| Notes: 1. Full-time equivalent figures are rounded to the nearest whole number. Data Quality: The Health and Social Care Information Centre 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. Source: Health and Social Care Information Centre Non-Medical Workforce Census. | ||
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Sheryll Murray: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many midwifery posts were filled by temporary staff at (a) the Royal Cornwall Hospitals Trust and (b) Plymouth Hospitals NHS Trust in (i) 2009, (ii) 2010 and (iii) 2011. [103286]
Anne Milton: The information requested is not held centrally. The hon. Member may wish to approach the two national health service trusts directly for information on staffing.
Sheryll Murray: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the average number of patients per qualified midwife on a post-natal ward was at the Royal Cornwall Hospitals Trust for night time hours in (a) 2009, (b) 2010 and (c) 2011. [103287]
Anne Milton: The information requested is not held centrally. The hon. Member may wish to contact the Royal Cornwall Hospitals NHS Trust for information about midwife to patient ratios.
The Royal College of Midwives has previously recommended a ratio of 1:28. However, the birth to midwives ratio is an indication of throughput only, and does not indicate the safety or quality of service provided.
NHS
Nicky Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether his Department requires the publication of data on local NHS (a) performance, (b) outcomes and (c) use; and what data are required to be published by independent providers of local NHS services. [103815]
Mr Simon Burns: The Health and Social Care Act 2012 includes provisions marking a step-change in the health and care sector's approach to transparency, growth and open data. It requires the Health and Social Care Information Centre to publish (in safe, ‘de-identifiable’ format) virtually all of the data it is required to collect across the health and care sector. The Department, the NHS Commissioning Board, the Care Quality Commission, National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence and Monitor will each commission data that the Information Centre will be required to collect, including data about performance, outcomes and use.
The Act requires the Information Centre to maintain and publish a register (‘catalogue’) of the data it has collected. In addition, the Department will ask the Information Centre to undertake work to develop an inventory of the wealth of data collected by other parts of the health and social care system so that over time it can provide a single source of information on the data that are collected and where they can be accessed.
Independent sector providers of national health service commissioned services are required to meet the same data reporting requirements as NHS providers for the NHS commissioned services.
NHS Property Services
Julian Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what input (a) clinical commissioning groups and (b) foundation trusts will have into decisions on assets held by NHS Property Services Ltd. [103578]
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Mr Simon Burns: NHS Property Services Ltd will work closely with the NHS Commissioning Board, clinical commissioning groups, health and wellbeing boards and national health service providers to respond appropriately to commissioning and service needs in the management of its portfolio, the disposal of surplus estate and the development of new buildings where appropriate.
Obesity
Margot James: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether his Department has undertaken research to examine the potential cost savings for the NHS of bariatric surgery for obese patients. [103312]
Mr Simon Burns: The National Institute for Health Research Health Technology Assessment (HTA) programme has funded a systematic review and economic evaluation of the clinical effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of bariatric surgery for obesity. The report was published in 2009 and is available on the HTA website at:
www.hta.ac.uk/project/1742.asp
Prescription Drugs
Tom Blenkinsop: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what recent assessment he has made of stock levels of prescription medicines. [103276]
Mr Simon Burns: Separate assessments are regularly made to ensure fair reimbursement to community pharmacies for the products they supply when providing NHS pharmaceutical services. Between the beginning of April 2012 and 17 April 2012, detailed assessments have been made for Betahistine 8 mg tablets, Betahistine 16 mg tablets, Repaglinide 2 mg tablets, Ketoprofen 2% gel, Nitrazepam 5 mg tablets and Tolbutamide 500 mg tablets.
The Department works closely with suppliers and other stakeholders to minimise the effect of medicines shortages on patients. This can include, where necessary, making assessments of the stock levels of particular prescription medicines. None of these assessments have been made in the same time period.
Prostate Cancer: Surgery
Rosie Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many (a) admissions and (b) emergency admissions took place for open excision of the prostate procedures for patients aged (i) 15-39, (ii) 40-49, (iii) 50-54, (iv) 55-59, (v) 60-64, (vi) 65-69, (vii) 70-74 and (viii) 75 years and over in each of the last three years for which figures are available. [104695]
Paul Burstow: Information concerning the number of admissions and emergency admissions for patients undergoing open excision of the prostate procedures aged 15 to 39, 40 to 49, 50 to 54, 55 to 59, 60 to 64, 65 to 69, 70 to 74 and 75 years and over in each of the last three years for which figures are available has been placed in the following table.
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| Total number of finished admissions episodes (1) (FAEs) and FAEs where the method of admission is 'Emergency’ (2) where a main operative procedure (3) as identified has been carried out by age group for 2008-09, 2009-10 and 2010-11 | ||||||
| 2008-09 | 2009-10 | 2010-11 | ||||
| Patient age group | Total FAEs | Emergency FAEs | Total FAEs | Emergency FAEs | Total FAEs | Emergency FAEs |
| (1 )An 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. (2 )An emergency admission is one where the admission method is recorded as one of the following codes: 21: Emergency—via accident and emergency (A and E) services, including the casualty department of the provider 22: Emergency—via general practitioner 23: Emergency—via Bed Bureau, including the Central Bureau 24: Emergency—via consultant out-patient clinic 28: Emergency—other means, including patients who arrive via the A and E department. (3) 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, (e.g. time waited), but a more complete count of episodes with a particular procedure is obtained by looking at the main and the secondary procedures. Source: Hospital Episode Statistics (HES), Health and Social Care Information Centre. | ||||||
Public Consultation
Mr Weir: To ask the Secretary of State for Health which of his Department's consultations have been externally verified since 2007; for what reason and by whom such verification was carried out; and what the cost to the public purse was of such verification. [104052]
Mr Simon Burns: None of the Department's consultations have been externally verified since 2007.
Formal verification of compliance with the various obligations set out under the HM Government code of practice on consultation is handled internally, in accordance with the obligation under the code to monitor the effectiveness of consultation exercises.
It is normal practice for the Department to publish a response to formal written consultation exercises, consistent with the code. Publication of consultation responses promotes transparency and provides the opportunity for external scrutiny of the consultation process independent of Government.
Mr Weir: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether his Department collects the IP addresses of online respondents to its consultations. [104053]
Mr Simon Burns: Not all responses to public consultations are received electronically, some are fed in through other channels such as discussion forums and public meetings. Where responses are received through the Department's online consultation platform an IP address is stored with a response.
Mr Weir: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether his Department accepts anonymous contributions to its consultations. [104054]
Mr Simon Burns: All responses, including anonymous ones (both written responses and those fed in through other channels such as discussion forums and public meetings) are considered and analysed carefully.
It is normal practice for the Department to publish a response to formal written consultation exercises, consistent with the code of practice on consultation. Publication of consultation responses allows an opportunity to highlight who has contributed to public consultation exercises, promoting transparency and providing the opportunity for external scrutiny of the consultation process independent of Government.
Retirement
Mr Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many (a) civil servants and (b) senior civil servants have retired from his Department since May 2010; and if he will make a statement. [104150]
Mr Simon Burns: For the purposes of this parliamentary question, the Department defines retirement as happening when a member of staff decides to leave our employment at or after the pension age for their pension scheme. For the majority of the Department's civil servants pension age is 60.
Since May 2010, 68 civil servants in grades Administration Officer—Grade 6 (AO-G6) and 14 senior civil servants have retired.
The Department has also approved a number of voluntary exits since March 2010. Of those who have left, 69 at grades AO-G6 and 30 senior civil servants (a total of 99) have chosen to access their pension before their normal retirement age.
There have also been four medical retirements in the period—three at grades AO-G6 and one senior civil servant.
Social Services
Mr Meacher: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much was spent on social care for (a) the elderly, (b) those with mental health problems, (c) those with learning disabilities and (d) younger physically disabled persons in each of the last 10 years. [103619]
Paul Burstow: The requested figures are collected through the Personal Social Services Expenditure and Unit Cost (PSSEXl) return, collected annually by the NHS Information Centre. The following table contains the information requested.
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| Gross social care expenditure, England | ||||||||||
| £ million | ||||||||||
| Social care expenditure by group | 2001-02 | 2002-03 | 2003-04 | 2004-05 | 2005-06 | 2006-07 | 2007-08 | 2008-09 | 2009-10 | 2010-11 |
| Note: Figures do not add up to total social care expenditure. Source: NHS Information Centre, PSSEXl final return, 2010-11 report, and 2005-06 report. | ||||||||||
Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether he has made an estimate of potential costs to the NHS arising from ill health as a result of (a) falls by and (b) deterioration in existing conditions of adults who will not receive social care because councils have introduced restrictions on the eligibility criteria for such care. [104485]
Paul Burstow: The Department has not made an estimate of the potential cost to the national health service arising from ill health as a result of falls. However it estimated that the annual cost of health and social care for the care of all the hip fracture patients in the United Kingdom amounts to approximately £2 billion.
The Department does not formally monitor changes to local authority social care eligibility criteria and therefore does not hold information on potential costs to the NHS arising from ill health as a result of existing conditions of adults who will not receive social care because councils have introduced restrictions on the eligibility criteria for such care. Allocations of resources at a local level is the responsibility of local authorities who are best placed to understand the needs of their community.
Councils should use the framework set out in the guidance ‘Prioritising need in the context of Putting People First: A whole system approach to eligibility for social care’, to draw up local eligibility criteria. This is graded into four bands:
critical;
substantial;
moderate; and
low.
On 11 May 2011, the Association of Directors of Adult Social Services published a survey that indicated that 13% (19) councils had changed their eligibility criteria between 2010-11 and 2011-12, of whom 15 councils moved from moderate to substantial. According to the survey, there are now 78% (116) councils at substantial, 15% (22) at moderate, 3% (4) at low and 4% (6) at critical.
In addition, the Audit Commission's 2008 report: ‘The Effect of Fair Access to Care Services Bands on Expenditure and Service Provision’ found there is no directly observable link between the council's eligibility criteria policy and emergency admissions to hospital.
Surgery
Rosie Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many finished consultant episodes took place for (a) colorectal excision, (b) open excision of the prostate, (c) breast excision, (d) inguinal hernia repair and (e) abdominal aortic aneurysm aorta replacement procedures for patients aged (i) 15-39, (ii) 40-49, (iii) 50-54, (iv) 55-59, (v) 60-64, (vi) 65-69, (vii) 70-74 and (viii) 75 years and over in each of the last three years for which figures are available; and in how many such cases were the patients men. [104696]
Paul Burstow: Information concerning the number of finished consultant episodes (FCEs) for colorectal excision, open excision of the prostate, breast excision, inguinal hernia repair and abdominal aortic aneurysm aorta replacement procedures for patients aged 15-39, 40-49, 50-54, 55-59, 60-64, 65-69, 70-74 and 75 years and over in each of the last three years for which figures are available and in which cases the gender has been recorded as male has been placed in the following tables. It should be noted that these data do not indicate the total number of FCE for male patients, as there may be episodes where the gender of the patient has not been recorded.
| Colorectal excision | ||||||
| Total number of FCE (1) and FCEs where the patient gender is ‘male’ with main operative procedure (2) as specified by patient age group for 2008-09, 2009-10 and 2010-11 | ||||||
| 2008-09 | 2009-10 | 2010-11 | ||||
| Patient age group | Total FCEs | Male | Total FCEs | Male | Total FCEs | Male |
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| Open excision of prostate | ||||||
| Total number of FCE (1) and FCEs where the patient gender is ‘male’ with main operative procedure (2) as specified by patient age group for 2008-09, 2009-10 and 2010-11 | ||||||
| 2008-09 | 2009-10 | 2010-11 | ||||
| Patient age group | Total FCEs | Male | Total FCEs | Male | Total FCEs | Male |
| Breast excision | ||||||
| Total number of FCE (1) and FCEs where the patient gender is 'male' with main operative procedure (2) as specified by patient age group for 2008-09, 2009-10 and 2010-11 | ||||||
| 2008-09 | 2009-10 | 2010-11 | ||||
| Patient age group | Total FCEs | Male | Total FCEs | Male | Total FCEs | Mal e |
| Inguinal hernia repair | ||||||
| Total number of FCE (1) and FCEs where the patient gender is 'male' with . main operative procedure (2 ) as specified by patient age group for 2008-09, 2009-10 and 2010-11 | ||||||
| 2008-09 | 2009-10 | 2010-11 | ||||
| Patient age group | Total FCEs | Male | Total FCEs | Male | Total FCEs | Male |
| Abdominal aortic aneurysm aorta replacement | ||||||
| Total number of FCE (1) and FCEs where the patient gender is ‘male’ with main operative procedure (2) as specified by patient age group for 2008-09, 2009-10 and 2010-11 | ||||||
| 2009-09 | 2009-10 | 2010-11 | ||||
| Patient age group | Total FCEs | Male | Total FCEs | Male | Total FCEs | Male |
| Notes: 1. A finished consultant episode (FCE) is a continuous period of admitted patient care under one consultant within one health care provider. FCEs are counted against the year in which they end. Figures do not represent the number of different patients, as a person may have more than one episode of care within the same stay in hospital or in different stays in the same year. 2. 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, (e.g. time waited), but a more complete count of episodes with a particular procedure is obtained by looking at the main and the secondary procedures. Source: Hospital Episode Statistics (HES), Health and Social Care Information Centre | ||||||
Rosie Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many training events and workshops organised by his Department took place as part of the NHS enhanced recovery programme in each of the last seven years for which figures are available. [104697]
Mr Simon Burns: The enhanced recovery partnership programme ran for two years in 2009-10 and 2010-11.
In 2009-10, the Department organised four national events and four workshops. In 2010-11, the Department organised three national events.
Rosie Cooper:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) how many individual orthopaedic surgical procedures took place in each acute trust that (a) fully and (b) partly complied with the NHS enhanced
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recovery model in each of the last 10 years for which figures are available; [104698]
(2) how many individual colorectal surgical procedures took place in each acute trust that (a) fully and (b) partly complied with the NHS enhanced recovery model in each of the last 10 years for which figures are available. [104699]
Mr Simon Burns: The Department does not collect data from the national health service on NHS acute trusts uptake of the enhanced recovery model.