Treatment centers (Hansard, 19 April 2004)

§ Mr. McLoughlin
To ask the Secretary of State for Health which organisations have been consulted on the Trent Region Access and Choice programme; how long the consultation period was; and whether copies of the responses were made publicly available. [164603]

§ Dr. Ladyman
Responsibility for effective involvement activity rests with the Trent Strategic Health Authority (SHA) and the relevant primary care trusts (PCTs).
The SHA is responsible for communicating high level strategic issues relating to the programme and it is the responsibility of PCTs to communicate operational impact and seek views on how best to meet the needs of local people through the delivery of the new service.

§ Mr. McLoughlin
To ask the Secretary of State for Health what submissions he has received regarding the location of the independent sector treatment center in Trent as part of the Trent Region Access and Choice programme; what assessment the Department has made of(a) the length of journey and (b) the time taken to reach (i) Derby, (ii) Nottingham and (iii) Sheffield hospitals; and what assessment has been made of the potential impact on patient safety if complications occur after surgery. [164600]

§ Dr. Ladyman
The Barlborough independent sector treatment center (IS-TC) is being set up to provide much needed additional clinical capacity in the Trent region, to help reduce waiting times and introduce choice for national health service patients. The location of the ISTC in the Trent Strategic Health Authority (SHA) area was determined by the service provider, Care UK Afrox Healthcare (CUAH), working closely with Trent SHA, so that health requirements of the regional and local populations could be best served.
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Information on travel times to the hospitals mentioned is not available, but the service provider will be providing NHS patients with transport to and from the IS-TC. All IS-TCs will be staffed by fully trained and experienced clinical teams. Surgeons operating in ISTCs must be registered with the General Medical Council on its specialist register. IS-TCs will have facilities and trained staff to resuscitate and stabilise any patient who suffers such complications.
Patients needing transport to a NHS trust in the event of a clinical emergency will be transported using normal ambulance services to either Chesterfield Royal Infirmary or, should they require an intensive care bed, to one of the hospital trusts in the North Trent critical care network. This is the same arrangement that would be followed for patients in any district general hospital in south Yorkshire.

§ Mr. McLoughlin
To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether independent sector treatment centers will be subject to the same national audit framework as NHS hospitals. [164601]

§ Dr. Ladyman
The services provided by independent sector treatment centers for NHS bodies are subject to scrutiny by the Commission for Healthcare Audit and Inspection (CHAI) on the same basis as other National Health Service services.
In addition, under the Care Standards Act 2000, CHAI is responsible for registering and inspecting independent treatment centers against the National Minimum Standards and Regulations issued by the Secretary of State.