Gibraltar: Spain
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether the Royal Navy will continue to assist the Royal Gibraltar Police in policing British territorial waters around Gibraltar. [112101]
Nick Harvey: Yes. I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 11 June 2012, Official Report, column 102W, to the hon. Member for Heywood and Middleton (Jim Dobbin).
Harrier Aircraft
Andrea Leadsom: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether he has decided on a replacement for the Harrier fighter aircraft. [112262]
Peter Luff [holding answer 18 June 2012]:As the Secretary of State for Defence, my right hon. Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr Hammond), announced on 10 May 2012, Official Report, column 140, the Ministry of Defence will be procuring the Short Take Off Vertical Landing (STOVL) variant of the Joint Strike Fighter. This aircraft will replace the contribution to Carrier Strike capability previously provided by Harrier.
Joint Strike Fighter Aircraft
Mr Ainsworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what recent discussions he has had with his (a) US and (b) French counterparts on the decision to procure F35B aircraft. [112428]
Peter Luff [holding answer 18 June 2012]: The Ministry of Defence holds frequent discussions at all levels, including at the level of the Secretary of State, with both the US and France. Discussions typically encompass a wide range of issues, including the recent decision to procure the F35B variant of Joint Strike Fighter.
Military Aircraft: Air Traffic Control
Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what recent discussions he has had with his counterparts in (a) Australia, (b) New Zealand, (c) the US and (d) Canada on creating an interoperable recognised air picture capability. [109769]
Nick Harvey:
The UK is a member of the Australia, US, Canada, New Zealand and UK Information Warfare Organisation, for which the UK is currently the chair.
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One of the objectives of the organisation is to improve picture exchange in all environments, including air. Discussions continually take place at all levels on both the operational and technical specifics of an interoperable recognised air picture capability.
Military Exercises
Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what (a) assets and (b) personnel will be sent to Orland Main Air Station in Norway to participate in Unified Vision in 2012. [111570]
Nick Harvey: Two members of the armed forces and four Defence science technological laboratory staff will participate in Unified Vision at Orland Main Air Station in Norway in June 2012.
Nuclear Weapons: Safety
Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the (a) name and (b) date was of each nuclear weapons accident response exercise which (i) took place in 2011 and (ii) is scheduled for 2012. [110595]
Nick Harvey: The names and dates of nuclear weapons emergency response exercises which took place in 2011 and are scheduled for 2012 are:
| Exercise | Date |
Olympic Games 2012: Security
Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what resources his Department is making available for security for the London 2012 Olympics. [112197]
Nick Harvey: The Ministry of Defence (MOD) contribution to the safety and security for the London 2012 Olympic Games was announced to Parliament on 15 December 2011, Official Report, columns 116-17WS. This set out that, in support of the police and other civil and Olympic authorities, the MOD would provide up to 13,500 personnel to ensure the Olympic and Paralympic Games are safe and secure.
Up to 7,500 will support the smooth running of Olympic sites, while the remainder will use their specialist capabilities and equipment to contribute to the delivery of Olympic security. A further statement on the use of reservists as part of this contribution was made on 20 February 2012, Official Report, columns 64-65WS.
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Regulation
Gordon Banks: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence which regulations his Department repealed between 1 February 2012 and 31 May 2012; and what the anticipated total savings will be from repealing those regulations. [112497]
Mr Robathan [holding answer 18 June 2012]:Between 1 February 2012 and 31 May 2012, the Ministry of Defence revoked the following item of secondary legislation:
The Otmoor Range Byelaws 1980/39
This revocation has come as the result of the regular updating and consolidation of departmental secondary legislation and is not estimated to have any financial impact.
Sea Wolf Missiles
Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence when the Sea Wolf Missile System will reach its out of service date; and what system is planned to replace it. [112156]
Peter Luff [holding answer 18 June 2012]: On current plans, the Sea Wolf system will reach its out of service date in 2020. It will be replaced by a new local area air defence system named Sea Ceptor, which will initially be fitted on Type 23 frigates from late 2016, and is then planned to provide the basis for the future air defence capability for the Type 26 Global Combat Ship from 2021.
Health
Allergies
Mr Amess:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) whether he has any plans to increase the level of provision of immunotherapy services through specialist allergy centres for people with severe
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uncontrolled allergic rhinitis; and if he will make a statement; [112019]
(2) what progress he is making in increasing the number of regional specialist allergy centres in England; and if he will make a statement. [112020]
Paul Burstow: The Department funded a project in the North West Strategic Health Authority to pilot the concept of an integrated regional service for allergy and immunotherapy services, and the “lessons learned” report has been widely disseminated. We expect local and national commissioners to take full account of this report in developing allergy services in the light of local needs and priorities.
Mr Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what estimate he has made of the number of (a) males and (b) females in each age group who have (i) food and (ii) inhalant allergies; and if he will make a statement; [112022]
(2) what estimate he has made of the number of (a) males and (b) females with hay fever in each age group in the last year; and if he will make a statement. [112023]
Paul Burstow: The Department has made no recent estimate of the prevalence of common allergies. A review carried out in 2006 on behalf of the Department by Professor John Newton estimated that around 6% of children less than three years old were affected by food allergies, including allergy to milk and to eggs, and that about 4% of adults had a food allergy of some sort, most frequently to shellfish or to nuts. Estimates for the proportion of patients by age group consulting a general practitioner for allergic rhinitis (including hay fever) are given in the following table; these figures will, however, understate the number of people suffering from hay fever, since many people with this condition do not consult a doctor. Estimates for inhalant allergies are not available.
| Proportion of patients consulting a GP for allergic rhinitis at some point during 2004 (rates per 10,000) | ||||||||||
| Age standardised rate (95% CI) | All ages | <1 | 1-4 | 5-14 | 15-24 | 25-44 | 45-64 | 65-74 | 75+ | |
Mr Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what recent (a) discussions he has had with, and (b) representations he has received from, the British Medical Association on the treatment of patients with hay fever; and if he will make a statement. [112024]
Paul Burstow: There have been no such representations or discussions.
Allergies: Prescription Drugs
Mr Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what information his Department collects on trends in the level of prescribed medication for the relief of hay fever; and if he will make a statement. [112021]
Paul Burstow: The following table provides the numbers of prescription items dispensed for medicines that may have been used to treat hay fever, taken from three sections of the British National Formulary (BNF).
| Number of prescription items written in the UK and dispensed in the community, in England | ||||
| BNF 11.4.2 Other anti-inflammatory preparations(1) | BNF 12.2.1 Drugs used in nasal allergy(1) | BNF 3.4.1 Antihistamines(1) | Total | |
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| (1) The Department does not collect information on the condition treated by a prescribed medicine. Not all the prescription items dispensed may have been for the treatment of hay fever. Source: Prescription Cost Analysis (PCA) system | ||||
Cancer
Tracey Crouch: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the average length of stay was of patients with each cancer type, following an emergency admission to hospital in (a) England and (b) each hospital trust in the last two years. [112173]
Mr Simon Burns: Information concerning the average length of stay of patients with each cancer type following an emergency admission to hospital in England and each strategic health authority (SHA) area in the last two years has been placed in the Library. SHA-level data have been provided because hospital trust level-data would require severe suppression of statistics in order to protect patient confidentiality.
Carbon Monoxide: Poisoning
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps his Department is taking to prevent cases of carbon monoxide poisoning. [112122]
Anne Milton: The Department seeks to prevent cases of carbon monoxide (CO) poisoning by raising medical professional and general awareness of CO. As part of that process the then interim chief medical officer and chief nursing officer published updated guidance on the diagnosis of carbon monoxide poisoning on 11 November 2010. This is available at:
www.dh.gov.uk/en/Publicationsandstatistics/Lettersandcirculars/Professionalletters/Chiefmedicalofficerletters/DH_121502
Furthermore, an estimate of 4,000 patients per year attending accident and emergency departments and diagnosed with CO poisoning was published in November 2011 to highlight the serious health impact of CO poisoning. This is available at:
www.dh.gov.uk/health/2011/11/co-poisoning/
The Department is currently working with other Departments on the revision of safety information on disposable barbecues and barbecue fuels to highlight the danger of CO poisoning and the Health Protection Agency has recently issued a press release to highlight the risk of CO poisoning whilst camping. This is available at:
www.hpa.org.uk/NewsCentre/NationalPressReleases/2012PressReleases/120601CampersremindedofCOriskofBBQs/
Care Quality Commission
Dr Poulter: To ask the Secretary of State for Health which Ministers in his Department authorised the decision in 2009 by the Care Quality Commission to abolish (a) its national investigation team, (b) its healthcare associated infection team and (c) a whistleblower telephone line; and for what reason those decisions were taken. [111913]
Mr Simon Burns: The Care Quality Commission (CQC) is the independent regulator of health and adult social care in England and it is responsible at board level for all decisions of an operational nature.
The following information has been provided by the CQC.
The CQC has never had a dedicated whistleblowing telephone line as calls have always been, and continue to be, handled through the CQCs National Customer Service Centre telephone line. The CQC has a dedicated team of call handlers to deal with whistleblowing calls and are responsible for tracking contacts through to a satisfactory conclusion with CQC inspectors. Since this specialist team was set up in June 2011, it has dealt with over 4,200 contacts.
The decision to move to a new field force model for the CQC inspectors included the abolition of the CQC national investigations team and healthcare associated infection teams. This was discussed in a private meeting of the CQC Board on Wednesday 9 December 2009.
The CQC has provided a copy of the relevant part of the minutes of that meeting, which has already been placed in the Library.
Mr Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps he is taking to raise the standard of inspections by the Care Quality Commission. [112076]
Mr Simon Burns: The Care Quality Commission (CQC) is the independent regulator of health and adult social care providers in England and it is responsible for developing and consulting on its methodology for assessing whether providers are meeting the registration requirements.
The Department has recently undertaken a performance and capability review into the CQC. The report of this review, which was published on 23 February 2012, made a number of recommendations around the development and delivery of the regulatory model. A copy of this report has been placed in the Library.
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The CQC has welcomed the findings of the performance and capability review and has published its formal response and action plan. A copy has been placed in the Library.
Dental Services
Mr Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what improvements to patient care in dental practices have been made since the introduction of changes to Care Quality Commission registration. [112077]
Mr Simon Burns: Primary dental care providers have been registered with the Care Quality Commission (CQC) since April 2011. The CQC informs us that, as at 5 April 2012, 796 inspection reports of dental services had been published. 88% of these services were meeting all the essential standards checked, while 12% of services failed to meet at least one essential standard. One location was identified with serious non-compliance issues requiring the CQC to take stronger enforcement to protect patients from harm.
Diabetes
Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether he has discussed advances on diabetes and blood critical care with representatives of Altnagelvin Hospital. [112213]
Paul Burstow: We have had no such discussions.
Diagnosis
Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people there were in England and Wales with SWAN syndrome in the last three years. [112205]
Anne Milton: The Department does not collect this information centrally.
SWAN stands for syndromes without a name. It is not a syndrome or diagnosis in and of itself. It is a collective term that represents those people who have a condition that is currently undiagnosed.
Drugs
Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether he has had discussions with Queen's University Belfast on its research and testing programme and on making such drugs available. [112212]
Mr Simon Burns: The Department is not aware of any specific discussions with Queen's University Belfast.
Fertility: Medical Treatments
Dr Poulter: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what recent assessment he has made of the safety of intracytoplasmic sperm injections for couples receiving fertility treatment. [112178]
Anne Milton: We are aware of recent research that has suggested a link between the use of intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) and the occurrence of birth defects. However, the research also makes it clear that the increased risk identified from the use of ICSI is small and that it cannot be established whether it is attributable to the use of the ICSI technique or related to the male factor fertility problems that require its use.
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The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA), which regulates the provision of in vitro fertilisation treatments in the United Kingdom, which include ICSI, monitors research on the safety of treatment techniques. The HFEA's Scientific and Clinical Advances Advisory Committee regularly meets and is to consider this ICSI research at its June meeting. The minutes of the Committee's meetings can be found on the authority's website at:
www.hfea.gov.uk/SCAAC.html
Both the Government and the HFEA welcome further research on the safety of treatment techniques. To assist this, steps have already been taken to make the extensive treatment data held by the HFEA more readily available for use in research.
Food
Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make it his policy to put in place a strategy to reduce calorie intake by the general public in restaurants, cafes and shops. [112210 ]
Anne Milton: ‘Healthy Lives, Healthy People: A call to action on obesity in England’, a copy of which has been placed in the Library, underlined the need for the population to reduce its calorie over-consumption. In March 2012, the Government announced a first group of major signatories to a Public Health Responsibility Deal pledge to reduce calories.
This pledge calls for the food and drink industry, including restaurants, cafes and shops, to enable their customers to eat and drink fewer calories through actions such as product/menu reformulation, reviewing portion sizes, education and information, and actions to shift the marketing mix towards lower calorie options. There are currently 24 businesses signed up to the calorie reduction pledge and we are seeking further commitments.
In addition, the Government's Responsibility Deal out-of-home calorie labelling pledge is designed to help people make healthier choices through the provision of calorie information in out-of-home settings, such as restaurants and cafes. There are currently 45 businesses signed up to the out-of-home calorie labelling pledge.
Food: Allergies
Mr Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) how many people were admitted to hospital following an allergic reaction to food in each year since 2006; and if he will make a statement; [112163]
(2) what the average cost to the NHS was of treating an individual for food allergies in the latest period for which figures are available; and if he will make a statement. [112164]
Paul Burstow: The information requested is not available.
Food: Labelling
Mr Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will require food manufacturers to label their foods more precisely in order to avoid serious allergic reactions; what regulation applies to such labelling; and if he will make a statement. [112018]
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Anne Milton: The Government are very aware of the need to protect the health of consumers with food allergies and this is why food allergens are already required to be clearly declared on the labels of pre-packed foods.
Directives 2003/89/EC and 2006/142/EC established a list of 14 food ingredients which must be indicated on the label of pre-packed foods as they are likely to cause adverse reactions in people suffering from food allergy. The allergens that have to be declared are those of greatest public health concern for allergy sufferers in the European Union. However, the legislation would allow for other foods to be added to the list should the need arise.
Regulation (EU) No. 1169/2011 of the European Parliament and of the Council on the provision of food information to consumers, which comes into force in December 2014, will require the specified allergenic ingredients not only to be listed, but highlighted in the ingredients list for pre-packed foods and will also introduce a new requirement to provide allergy information for foods sold non pre-packed, including food supplied by the catering sector.
General Practitioners
Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps he is taking to ensure that GPs adopt a better working relationship with Government and ensure that the cheaper systems are operated in terms of telephone call systems as well as paying for simple support letters or forms. [112202]
Mr Simon Burns: The Department issued guidance and directions to national health service bodies in December 2009 on the cost of telephone calls, which prohibit the use of telephone numbers that charge the patient more than the equivalent cost of calling a geographical number to contact the NHS. It is currently the responsibility of primary care trusts to ensure that local practices are compliant with the directions and guidance.
We feel that it is important that services provided by general practitioners (GPs), which are funded by the NHS, are delivered to, and for the benefit of, the majority of patients. However, under the terms of their contract for the provision of NHS primary medical services, GPs are required to provide certain medical reports, or complete certain forms, such as those required to support a claim for incapacity benefit, free of charge to their registered patients. GPs also provide a variety of other services which successive Governments have regarded as private matters between the patient and the doctor providing the service. The doctor is free to make a charge for these non-NHS services if he or she wishes.
Homeopathy
Mr Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps he is taking to ensure that access to homeopathic medicines is not restricted. [111886]
Anne Milton: There are no planned changes to either the current regulatory status or the longstanding regulations governing access to, or sale and supply of, homeopathic products. Provision for homeopathic products is set out in Directive 2001/83/EC, as amended by 2004/27/EC Directive 2001/83/EC. Activities currently permitted will continue to be permitted.
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Hospitals: Sick Leave
Dr Poulter: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many days of staff sickness absence there were in (a) foundation trust hospitals and (b) other NHS hospitals in England on average per employee in each of the last five years for which figures are available. [112235]
Mr Simon Burns: Sickness absence is not reported by the number of days absence because of the difficulty in defining a standard working day in the national health service. Different shift patterns and the 24-hour nature of employment in the national health service mean that a percentage of whole time equivalents is the standard used to define levels of sickness absence data in the national health service.
The most recent figures for sickness absence can be found on the national health service information centre's website at:
www.ic.nhs.uk/statistics-and-data-collections/workforce/sickness-absence
The national health service information centre is currently preparing to publish an annual summary of sickness absence rates for the NHS for 2009-10, 2010-11 and 2011-12. This will be published on 24 July 2012. It will not contain sickness absence rates per employee due to the reasons given above, however it will include a table presenting ‘Sickness Absence Rates' per organisation including ‘Full Time Equivalent Days Lost to Sickness Absence' and ‘Full Time Equivalent Days Available' per organisation for each financial year that data are available.
Hospitals: Waiting Lists
Mr Hepburn: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the average hospital waiting time was for NHS patients in (a) Jarrow constituency, (b) South Tyneside, (c) the north-east and (d) the UK in each year since 2005. [111892]
Mr Simon Burns: The Department does not collect referral to treatment (RTT) data at constituency level and so we have used data for the national health service organisations deemed to be the closest geographically: South Tyneside NHS Foundation Trust and South Tyneside Primary Care Trust (PCT).
Since August 2007, waiting times on an RTT basis for patients waiting to start treatment have been published. Information on the average waiting times for patients from South Tyneside, the north-east and in England between March 2008 and March 2012 is shown in the following table:
| Average waiting time for patients waiting to start treatment at the end of March | |||
| Weeks | |||
| As at March each year | South Tyneside PCT | North-east SHA | England |
| Source: Department of Health monthly RTT return | |||
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Liver Diseases: Death
Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps he plans to take to reduce the incidence of deaths from liver disease caused by excessive alcohol and obesity. [112199]
Anne Milton: Liver disease mortality in the under-65 age group across all other major demographic classifications is a growing problem in the United Kingdom. Blood borne virus, alcohol consumption and obesity are major contributing factors to the development of liver disease.
Martin Lombard, National Clinical Director for liver disease, has been working with specialist associations and patient representative groups to identify the strategic interventions that can be made to improve outcomes for patients. He will be consulting key partners on the resulting draft outcomes strategy over this summer.
“The Government’s Alcohol Strategy” (March 2012), which has been already placed in the Library, and “Healthy Lives, Healthy People: A call to action on obesity in England” (October 2011), which has been placed in the Library, include several actions that will support reductions in liver disease mortality.
Low Birth Weight Babies
Chris Ruane:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many and what proportion of children born in
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each of the last 10 years had low birth weight in each
(a)
nation and
(b)
region. [111648]
Mr Hurd: I have been asked to reply on behalf of the Cabinet Office.
The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
Letter from Stephen Penneck, dated June 2012:
As Director General for the Office for National Statistics, I have been asked to reply to your recent question asking how many and what proportion of children born in each of the last ten years had low birth weight in each (a) nation and (b) region (111648).
Figures for live births in England and Wales with a birthweight of less than 2500 grams (low birthweight) have been compiled from birth registration and birth notification data. The table in the following spreadsheet shows the number and proportion of low birthweight live births in 2001-2010.
The information for England and Wales is published annually in the Characteristics of Birth 1 publication and can be found at:
www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/vsob1/characteristics-of-birth-1--england-and-wales/index.html
in Table 5.
Information on live births with a low birthweight is not available for Scotland or Northern Ireland.
| Number and proportion of live births in England and Wales with a birthweight of less than 2,500 grams, by country and region for 2001-10 | ||||||||||
| Low birthweight | ||||||||||
| 2010 | 2009 | 2008 | 2007 | 2006 | ||||||
| Area of usual residence of mother | No | % | No | % | No | % | No | % | No | % |
| Low birthweight | ||||||||||
| 2005 | 2004 | 2003 | 2002 | 2001 | ||||||
| Area of usual residence of mother | No | % | No | % | No | % | No | % | No | % |
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| (1) Includes births to women whose usual residence is outside England and Wales Source: Office for National Statistics | ||||||||||
Multiple Sclerosis
Fiona Mactaggart: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what estimate he has made of total expenditure on multiple sclerosis in (a) each primary care trust and (b) England in the last five years; [112226]
(2) how many (a) emergency admissions and (b) elective admissions were recorded for patients with multiple sclerosis in each primary care trust in England in the last year for which figures are available; [112228]
(3) what the average length of stay was for a patient admitted with a diagnosis of multiple sclerosis in each primary care trust in England in the last year for which figures are available. [112229]
Paul Burstow: Information on the total expenditure on multiple sclerosis is not collected centrally as funding for services is included in the general allocation to the national health service.
Table 1 provides data on finished admission episodes(1) (elective and emergency(2)) with a primary diagnosis of multiple sclerosis(3) by primary care trust (PCT) of main provider(4) 2010-11.
| Table 1: Activity in English NHS Hospitals and English NHS commissioned activity in the independent sector | |||
| Admissions | |||
| PCT of main provider name | PCT code | Elective | Emergency |
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| (1) 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 in-patients, as a person may have more than one admission within the year. (2) Emergency and elective admissions An emergency admission is one where the admission method is recorded as one of the following codes: 21: Emergency—via Accident and Emergency (A&E) services, including the casualty department of the provider 22: Emergency—via General Practitioner (GP) 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&E department Elective admissions are those episodes with an admission method of: 11 = Elective: from waiting list 12 = Elective: booked 13 = Elective: planned (3) Primary diagnosis of multiple sclerosis The primary diagnosis is the first of up to 20 (14 from 2002-03 to 2006-07 and seven prior to 2002-03) diagnosis fields in the HES data set and provides the main reason why the patient was admitted to hospital. The ICD code for multiple sclerosis is G35. (4) PCT of main provider This indicates the PCT area within which the organisation providing treatment was located. Note: Small numbers. To protect patient confidentiality, figures between one and five have been replaced with “*” (an asterisk). Where it was still possible to identify numbers from the total an additional number (the next smallest) has been replaced. Source: Hospital Episode Statistics (HES), Health and Social Care Information Centre (HSCIC) | |||
| Table 2: Average(1) length of stay for FAEs with a primary diagnosis(2) of multiple sclerosis(3) by PCT(4) of main provider in England, 2010-11. Activity in English NHS Hospitals and English NHS commissioned activity in the independent sector. | |||
| Provider code | Provider description | Mean average | Median average |
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| (1) Mean length of stay The average length of stay based on the difference between the admission date and discharge date in days of each spell, summed for all spells and divided by the number of spells where a valid duration has been recorded. This excludes day cases and periods of care where the length of stay is less than one full day. (2) Primary diagnosis The primary diagnosis is the first of up to 20 (14 from 2002-03 to 2006-07 and seven prior to 2002-03) diagnosis fields in the HES data set and provides the main reason why the patient was admitted to hospital. (3) Multiple sclerosis The ICD code for Multiple Sclerosis is G35 (4) PCT of main provider This indicates the PCT area within which the organisation providing treatment was located. Notes: 1. Finished admission episodes. An FAE is the first period of in-patient 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. Small numbers. To protect patient confidentiality, figures (both the mean and median) where the denominator of the mean is between one and five have been replaced with “*” (an asterisk). 3. Data quality. HES are compiled from data sent by more than 300 NHS trusts and PCTs in England and from some independent sector organisations for activity commissioned by the English NHS. The NHS Information Centre for health and social care liaises closely with these organisations to encourage submission of complete and valid data and seeks to minimise inaccuracies. While this brings about improvement over time, some shortcomings remain. Source: HES, HSCIC | |||