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5 Dec 2006 : Column 387W—continued
NHS Trusts
Mr. Dai Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the average debt incurred is by NHS trusts from private finance initiative projects. [100610]
Andy Burnham: There is no direct correlation between a national health service trust meeting its private finance initiative unitary charge and incurring a deficit. Unitary payments, paid for from an NHS trust's general revenue allocations, are just one component of an NHS trust's total expenditure.
Of the 179 primary care trusts and NHS trusts showing a deficit in the published audited accounts for 2006-07 national accounts, 17 have an operational private finance initiative project.
Private Finance Initiative
Mr. Francois: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the total capital value is of each private finance initiative scheme overseen by her Department which has reached financial close; over what period repayments will take place; and what the total cost of repayment will be. [103520]
Andy Burnham: I refer the hon. Member to the reply given to the hon. Member for South Cambridgeshire (Mr. Lansley) on 25 October 2006, Official Report, column 1969W, and the table that is available in the Library.
Protection of Vulnerable Adults
Dr. Starkey: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people have been added to the Protection of Vulnerable Adults list since it was set up; and how many and what proportion of those were care home managers. [102394]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: As at 31 October 2006, the latest date for which figures are available, there have been 5,439 referrals made to the protection of vulnerable adults (POVA) list, which was established on 26 July 2004.
Data by occupation are not recorded and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost. According to a study carried-out by the Kings College London on behalf of the Department in July 2005, out of the first 100 referrals made to the POVA list, six care home managers were referred, of which one care home manager was confirmed on the POVA list. The detail of the study is available at:
www.dh.gsi.gov.uk/pova.
In a current study being carried out by Kings College London, out of a sample of 300 referral cases, 16 care home managers were referred of which eight cases were confirmed on the POVA list. This study will be published shortly.
Royal Free Hospital
Mr. Dismore: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what steps are being taken by the Royal Free hospital to reduce cases of MRSA; what progress has been made in reducing cases; and what proportion of patients at the Royal Free arrive at the hospital with MRSA; [100744]
(2) what new (a) products and (b) techniques to control MRSA are being trialled at the Royal Free hospital; and what the estimated cost is of these trials. [100745]
Andy Burnham: The Department’s meticillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) improvement team provided a package of support and advice to the Royal Free Hampstead NHS Trust, tailored to its specific needs in tackling MRSA bacteraemias. They worked closely with key hospital personnel to identify issues which should help the trust develop a practical action plan aimed at speeding up the reduction in the number of infections.
The latest information on the number of reported cases of MRSA bacteraemias was published by the Health Protection Agency on 24 July. The information for the Royal Free Hampstead NHS Trust is as follows:
| Number | |
The Department does not hold data on the proportion of patients arriving at the Royal Free Hampstead NHS Trust who have MRSA, or on the new products and techniques being trialled at the trust to control MRSA.
Speech and Language Therapy
Jim Cousins: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many speech and language therapists were employed in each strategic health authority area in each of the last three years. [107693]
Ms Rosie Winterton: The table shows the number of professionally qualified speech and language therapists employed in each strategic health authority in each of the last three years.
| Headcount | |||
| 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | |
| Source: The Information Centre for health and social care non-medical workforce census | |||
Mr. Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Health why there is no tariff for speech and language therapy; and if she will set a tariff for speech and language therapy. [103528]
Andy Burnham: Where speech and language therapy takes place as part of a hospital admission, the costs will be reflected in the relevant tariff price, although there is no separately identifiable tariff for the speech and language therapy component.
The introduction of a national tariff relies on national standardised data sets and robust cost and activity data collection. For this reason the implementation of a national tariff has begun with hospital-based care, where the data are available. There are limited data available on activity levels and the associated cost of services delivered in the community. As a result there is no tariff for speech and language therapy in the community.
We intend to consult on the future of payment by results in the new year, and as part of this we will consider the question of extending the national tariff to community services.
Temozolomide
Mr. Roger Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many prescriptions for Temozolomide have been written in each year since 2000. [103350]
Andy Burnham: It is not known how many prescriptions have been written for temozolomide. However, the number of prescription items and associated cost, in terms of net ingredient cost (NCI) for temozolomide dispensed in the community are shown in the following table. This also shows, for the years 2001 to 2005, the estimated costs for use of this drug in hospitals. The data for hospitals have no concept of items or prescriptions, they simply record total usage. Data for 2000 are not available for the full year.
| Items dispensed in the community Prescription Cost Analysis | Cost of items dispensed in the community (NCI) PCA (£000) | Cost of drug used in hospitals (NCI) (£000) | |
| Notes: Columns 2 and 3 are taken from the prescription cost analysis system. Column 4 is taken from the data provided by IMS. Source: IMS HEALTH: Hospital Pharmacy Audit. | |||
Welwyn and Hatfield Hospital
Mrs. Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when and by whom the decision was taken to cancel the new hospital planned for Welwyn and Hatfield. [100940]
Andy Burnham: NHS East of England met with chief executives of all national health service organisations in Hertfordshire on 8 November where the decision was made not to continue with the proposals for a new hospital in Hatfield. The newly formed Hertfordshire primary care trusts will be engaging with local communities, public representatives and undertaking further technical work to assess where acute hospital services should be centralised in East and North Hertfordshire.
West Suffolk Hospital
Mr. Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) how many people have been treated at the West Suffolk hospital NHS trust accident and emergency department outside the hours of 8 am to 8 pm in each year since 1997; [101345]
(2) how many people have been treated at the West Suffolk hospital NHS trust accident and emergency department in each year since 1997. [101346]
Andy Burnham: The information is not available in the format requested. However, the following table shows the attendances at the accident and emergency department at West Suffolk hospital NHS trust from 1996-07 to 2005-06.
| Total attendance | |
| Source: Department of Health datasets QMAE and KHO9 | |
Treasury
Agency Workers
Jon Cruddas: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the number of agency workers in (a) full-time and (b) part-time employment in each region. [107508]
John Healey: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.
Letter from Colin Mowl, dated 5 December 2006:
The National Statistician has been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question about agency workers. I am replying in her absence. (107508)
The attached table shows the number of full-time and part-time employee jobs in recruitment and employment agencies for each region of Great Britain. The figures shown are for 2004, the latest period for which this information is available. They represent jobs rather than people and some workers may have more than one job with different employers.
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