§ Mr. HancockTo ask the Secretary of State for Health to what extent the NHS has met its targets for service delivery since 1997. [20267]
§ Matthew TaylorTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the extent to which the NHS has improved in terms of delivery since 1997. [19967]
§ Mr. HuttonI apologise to the hon. Member for Portsmouth, South (Mr. Hancock) and to the hon. Member for Truro and St. Austell (Matthew Taylor) for the delay in responding to these questions. I refer both hon. Members to the reply that my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State gave my hon. Friend the Member for Blackpool, North and Fleetwood (Mrs. Humble) on 5 March 2002,Official Report, column 192W.
Progress made to date is outlined in both the Department of Health's annual departmental report and the Modernisation Board's annual report ("The NHS Plan—a Progress Report"); both of which are available through the Library. These documents clearly show that, thanks to the hard work of frontline staff and managers, the NHS is making good progress towards its targets for service delivery. Our on-going monitoring includes these examples of good progress:
The Q3 access survey shows the NHS is on target to meet the 2004 primary care access milestones.Since May 1997, 68 major hospital developments (64 PFI and four public) worth over £7.6 billion have been approved to proceed. 10 of these (eight PFI and two public) are already operational and are treating patients.Since 1997 the number of nurses has increased by 31,520. Between September 1999 and September 2001 the number of nurses increased by 20,740 or 9.9 per cent. This means the NHS836Wplan target has been reached well in advance of the 2004 target. We are now focusing on achieving the manifesto commitment and on retaining existing staff.There are now 20 per cent. (4,320) more consultants than there were in 1997. The number of consultants increased by 10.6 per cent. (2,460) between the NHS plan baseline (September 1999) and September 2001.668 new critical care beds since January 2000 represents a 28 per cent. increase, putting us on course to achieve the target of a 30 per cent. increase by January 2003.714 new beds in general and acute wards puts us over a third of theway towards the target of 2,100 by April 2004.163 rapid access chest pain clinics were open by the end of quarter 3. The plan target was 100 clinics by April 2002.The target of 6,000 extra heart operations by April 2003 should be achieved this year.91.3 per cent. (67,650) of patients referred urgently with suspected cancer were seen within two weeks during Q2 2001–02.By the end of March 2002 no patients should have to wait more than 15 months from the time of being placed on an in-patient waiting list. Latest figures show that, at the end of January 2002, 72 per cent. of trusts are already meeting this target.In the last 22 months, 97 per cent. of GP surgeries have been connected to "NHSnet", providing desktop email, access to the internet and a communications infrastructure for general practice across the NHS.