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113W
Written Answers
26 OCTOBER 2009
Written Answers
114W
individual appraisals is a matter for the National Institute
for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) as an
independent body.
The application of this flexibility, along with patient
access schemes, have resulted in positive NICE guidance
on a number of treatments including Sutent for renal
cell carcinoma and Revlimid for multiple myeloma.
Swine Flu
Harry Cohen: To ask the Secretary of State for
Health if he will issue a public health warning on the
risk of transmission of swine flu arising from kissing,
including a two-cheek greeting; and if he will make a
statement. [293219]
Gillian Merron: The Department will not be issuing a
public health warning.
We have consistently advised that symptomatic people
should stay at home while ill to avoid infecting others.
People can reduce, but not eliminate, the risk of
spreading influenza by routinely adopting high standards
of personal and respiratory hygiene.
Those who are not symptomatic should continue
their normal activities.
To keep the public informed, in May this year, we ran
a mass public health campaign with print, television
and radio adverts. The adverts warned the public about
swine flu and reminded people to practice good respiratory
hand hygiene, that is, to cover their noses and mouths
with tissues when they cough and sneeze and then
throw the tissue away and wash their hands.
There will also be a further respiratory hand hygiene
campaign beginning at the end of October and running
through to February 2010.
Thalidomide Trust
Mr. Gale: To ask the Secretary of State for Health
when Ministers in his Department last met trustees of
the Thalidomide Trust. [295461]
Mr. Mike O’Brien: I met with the National Advisory
Council to the Thalidomide Trust on 22 October 2009.
Treatment Centres and Hospitals
Greg Mulholland: To ask the Secretary of State for
Health what recent assessment he has made of the
performance of (a) independent sector treatment
centres and (b) NHS hospitals in undertaking
emergency medical procedures. [294766]
Mr. Mike O’Brien: Independent sector treatment centres
(ISTCs) provide elective care, not emergency care.
ISTCs have procedures in place to respond to
complications, including arrangements with a local national
health service trust in case of an unforeseen emergency.
As part of performance monitoring of ISTCs there is
a key performance indicator included in the contracts,
which sets out the performance criteria on the transfer
activity of patients. This activity is reviewed by the
primary care trust (PCT) Commissioner at a Joint
Service Review between the provider, commissioner and
key stakeholders, undertaken quarterly to assess the
performance of ISTCs.
PCTs commission and contract with NHS hospital
trusts to provide emergency care services according to
local needs. They are responsible for monitoring the
performance of those trusts. The Department has set a
national standard that patients should not wait more
than four hours in accident and emergency departments
from arrival to admission, transfer or discharge. National
annual performance against the standard was 98.1 per
cent. in 2008-09 and national performance in quarter 1
of 2009-10 was 98.6 per cent. 98 per cent. achievement
against the standard is regarded as a success. The 2 per
cent. margin allows some patients to remain longer in
Accident and Emergency where there is a clinical need
to do so.
BUSINESS, INNOVATION AND SKILLS
Apprentices: Aerospace Industry
Mr. Hayes: To ask the Minister of State, Department
for Business, Innovation and Skills how many
apprenticeships there are in (a) the aerospace industry
and (b) those parts of the (i) Eurofighter and (ii)
Airbus consortia operating in England. [290268]
Kevin Brennan: Information is not available to identify
the total number of apprentices in the categories asked
for. Data can only reliably be presented down to levels
such as Apprenticeship “frameworks” to which the
aerospace industry would be a relatively small component
in categories such as engineering and IT.
Information about companies providing Apprenticeships
is not currently available centrally. From 1 August 2009
we have begun to collect standardised data on the
employer with whom the apprentice is placed. This is a
new requirement of providers, primarily to assess trends
in employer engagement by sector rather than to identify
activity at the individual employer level where corporate
structures, especially for large organisations, can make
such analysis extremely difficult. We expect to review
the quality and relevance of the data when sufficient
volume of data are available and subject to confidentiality
rules consider whether it can be published on a regular
basis.
Broadband
Mr. Kemp: To ask the Minister of State, Department
for Business, Innovation and Skills what recent
estimate he has made of the number of people living in
(a) the City of Sunderland and (b) England who have
access to broadband internet at home. [293943]
Mr. Timms: This Department has not made a recent
estimate of the number of homes with broadband access
in Sunderland and does not have available information
on broadband at home at nation level. Over 99 per cent.
of all telephone exchanges in the UK are now broadband
enabled, including those in the Sunderland area. Reception
of reliable broadband may depend on factors such as
distance from the exchange and other factors such as
interference from home wiring.