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3 Nov 2003 : Column 511W—continued
Arthritis
Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what guidelines the Government has issued to primary care trusts on prescribing TNFa to arthritis sufferers. [133919]
Dr. Ladyman: The Department has not issued guidelines on the dispensing of anti-TNF drugs. The National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE) issued guidance on these drugs in March 2002. They recommended that consultant rheumatologists, or consultant paediatric rheumatologists in the case of juvenile idiopathic arthritis, should prescribe these drugs, in accordance with the guidelines set out by the British Society for Rheumatology (BSR) or British Paediatric Rheumatology Group (BPRG).
The Government expect NICE guidance to be implemented in all areas as expeditiously as possible.
Ashford (Middlesex) Hospital
Mr. Wilshire: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to his answer of 14 October 2003, Official Report, column 212W, on Ashford (Middlesex) Hospital, what facility is out of commission; and on what date each part of it ceased to be used. [134058]
Mr. Hutton [holding answer 23 October 2003]: I must apologise to the hon. Member for an error in my response to him on 14 October 2003, Official Report, column 212W.
Facilities for the proposed new independent sector treatment centre will be provided by Ashford and St. Peter's Hospitals National Health Service Trust but the final solution will depend upon negotiations between the trust and the preferred provider for this unit.
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Improved capacity managed by the Ashford and St. Peter's Hospitals NHS Trust has meant that because of increased throughput of patients as day surgery cases and changes in operating schedules, the trust announced the temporary closure of the Fielding Ward from 31 October for a period of five months.
This is unrelated to the proposals for a new treatment centre.
British Heart Foundation
Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much funding has been allocated to the British Heart Foundation in 2002–03; and for which projects. [133925]
Miss Melanie Johnson: The Department did not allocate funding to the British Heart Foundation (BHF) in 2002–03. The Department works closely with the BHF on the full range of heart disease policies and values highly its distinctive contribution to preventing heart disease and improving care and services for patients.
Cancelled Operations
Mrs. Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many operations were cancelled in England since January; and how many of these were due to delayed discharge. [129487]
Mr. Hutton: Data are collected quarterly on the number of operations cancelled by hospitals for non-clinical reasons: at the last minute (that is, on the day the patients are due to arrive or after arrival in hospital or on the day of their operation) and, in 2002–03 only, on the day of surgery.
Cancelled operations data at England level and by national health service trust and strategic health authority level are available in the Library and on the Department's website at www.doh.gov.uk/hospitalactivity/data requests.htm
The data collected on cancelled operations for non-clinical reasons are not broken down into the reasons for cancellation. Therefore, no data can be provided on how many operations are cancelled due to delayed discharge from hospital.
Car Parking (Queen Mary's, Sidcup)
Mr. Horam: To ask the Secretary of State for Health which organisation has the contract for organising car parking at Queen Mary's Sidcup NHS Trust; and what income the Trust has derived from this contract in each year. [134072]
Mr. Hutton [holding answer 30 October 2003]: The company responsible for organising car parking at Queen Mary's Sidcup National Health Service Trust is CP Plus Ltd. The agreed annual value was £150,000, which has now altered to £151,029 due to changes in number of spaces available and inflation.
Cataract Operations
Mr. Lidington: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) how many people are waiting for cataract operations in each trust within the Thames Valley Strategic Health Authority area; [131400]
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- (2) what the latest average waiting time is for cataract operations in each trust within the Thames Valley Strategic Health Authority area. [131401]
Ms Rosie Winterton [holding answers 14 October 2003]: The Department does not hold any data on cataracts, as only specialty based data are collected centrally.
However, ophthalmology data as a whole for trusts in the Thames Valley Health Authority area are shown in the table.
| Trustcode | Trust name | Total number of patients waiting for admission | Average (median) waiting time in months |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5DK | Newbury and Community PCT | 256 | 3.38 |
| RBF | Nuffield Orthopaedic Centre NHS Trust | 0 | n/a |
| RD7 | Heatherwood and Wexham Park Hospitals NHS Trust | 0 | n/a |
| RD8 | Milton Keynes General NHS Trust | 229 | 2.02 |
| RHW | Royal Berkshire and Battle Hospital NHS Trust | 2,844 | 3.89 |
| RTH | The Oxford Radcliffe Hospital NHS Trust | 1,719 | 3.02 |
| RXQ | Buckinghamshire Hospitals NHS Trust | 1,009 | 2.47 |
Source:
Department of Health form KH07.
Chronic Disease
Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what measures he has taken to improve access to treatment for sufferers of chronic diseases. [134803]
Dr. Ladyman: Our substantial increased investment in the national health service will have the effect of improving access to treatment for all patients, including those with chronic diseases. Over the years 2003–04 to 2007–08, expenditure on the NHS in England will increase on average by 7.4 per cent. a year over and above inflation—a total increase over the period of 43 per cent. in real terms. This will take the total spent on the NHS in England from £56 billion in 2002–03 to over £90 billion in 2007–08 and lead to better services for all patients.
Maximum waiting times have fallen over the past few years and will continue to do so. By the end of 2005, the maximum waiting time for a first out-patient appointment with a consultant will fall to three months and the maximum wait for in-patient treatment will fall to six months. This will help all NHS patients, including those with chronic disease.
We are also producing a national service framework (NSF) for long-term conditions. The NSF, which we hope to publish by December 2004, will concentrate on neurological conditions and also have generic value for people with other long-term conditions and disabilities and will inform the future planning of services.
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Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much has been spent by his Department on chronic disease sufferers, broken down by main categories of chronic disease, in each of the last six years. [134804]
Dr. Ladyman: The information requested is not collected centrally. Strategic health authorities and primary care trusts receive unified allocations to cover the costs of hospital and community health services, discretionary funding for general practice staff, premises, computers and primary care prescribing.
The level of funding made available for the drugs, staffing and other costs of providing services for patients with chronic diseases are determined locally. It is for strategic health authorities, in partnership with primary care trusts and other local stakeholders, to determine how best to use their funds to provide health services for their populations, including those with chronic disease.
Clinical Negligence
Mr. Paul Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list the cost of clinical negligence claims in the NHS for each year since 1997. [134397]
Ms Rosie Winterton: The National Audit Office (NAO) summarised accounts for the national health service (England), show expenditure for claims and associated costs for clinical negligence for each year since 1997 to be as shown in the table.
| Amount | |
|---|---|
| 1996–97 | 235 |
| 1997–98 | 144 |
| 1998–99 | 221 |
| 1999–2000 | 373 |
| 2000–01 | 415 |
| 2001–02 | 446 |
Changes to accounting policies imposed by the NAO over the years mean that the expenditure amounts are not directly comparable.
Cost Collection Exercise
Lynne Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what conclusions he has drawn from the annual reference cost collection exercise about the cost of activity carried out for the NHS (a) by non-NHS service providers and (b) by the NHS. [133717]
Mr. Hutton: The 2003 reference cost collection exercise has for the first time included a requirement for the collection of data relating to services provided to national health service patients by the private sector. However, this does not include services commissioned from the voluntary and charitable sectors, and therefore it will not be possible to draw conclusions about the cost of activity carried out for the NHS by non-NHS providers as a whole.
It is currently anticipated that publication of 2003 reference cost data on the Department's web site, and in hard copy, will take place before the end of November. Publication will be accompanied by analysis and commentary similar to that provided in previous years.
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