HC Deb 23 May 2003 vol 406 cc85-6W
Mr. Burns

To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list the salary paid to each primary care group chairman in the year up to October 2002. [101732]

Mr. Hutton

[holding answer 10 March 2003]Only one primary care group remained in October 2002 for which the chair received annual remuneration of £15,548. Details of the levels of remuneration paid to the chairs of primary care trusts (PCTs) as at 1 April 2002 have been placed in the Library.

I regret that, in answering a question from the hon. Member on Wednesday 29 January 2003, Official Report, column 901W, the average remuneration for PCT chairs in 2002–03 was incorrectly given as £12,600. The correct figure should have been £18,154.

Mr. Gray

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what recommendations he issues to primary care trusts on the maximum number of heads of the population for(a) palliative care and (b) intermediate care beds; and what the average number is in each primary care trust areas around London. [113405]

Ms Blears

A national survey undertaken by the National Council for Hospice and Specialist Palliative Care Services in 1999 on behalf of the Department showed that the average number of beds per million population was 51. For the former London health region, the figure was 57. Though there are major variations between former health regions in the provision of specialist palliative care beds, the £50 million central budget for palliative care allocated will help tackle inequalities in access to specialist palliative care, and enable cancer networks to reach at least the national average.

The table shows the number of intermediate care beds in the London area at 31 December 2002, the latest available figures, by strategic health authority (SHA). Data from primary care trusts is aggregated to SHA level when reporting to the Department of Health for performance management purposes.

London DHSC
Strategic health authority Number of intermediate care

beds—31 December 2002

North West London 109
North Central London 292
North East London 51
South East London 105
South West London 146
Total 703

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