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Mr. Mellor : It is for health authorities to decide their training priorities and allocate funds accordingly. We do not hold information centrally on the way in which individual health authorities choose to exercise this responsibility, or on the number of enrolled nurses wishing to convert to first-level nursing.
Information supplied by the English National Board for Nursing, Midwifery and Health Visiting (ENB) shows that the number of schools of nursing approved to run the 52-week conversion course for enrolled nurses to gain the
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registered general nursing qualification has increased from three in 1986 to 86 in October 1988. I understand that further courses are in the planning stage. The hon. Member may wish to contact the ENB Resource and Careers Service at PO Box 356, Sheffield S80 SF, which holds details of the schools which have approval. Information on the costs for each place for enrolled nurses is not available. I am not aware of any health authorities cancelling conversion courses, but if the hon. Member has a specific case, I would be pleased to make inquiries. The Government's response to the United Kingdom Central Council for Nursing, Midwifery and Health Visiting (UKCC) Project 2000 proposals, in May 1988, stressed the need to increase the number of enrolled nurse conversion courses. We therefore welcome the circular recently issued by the UKCC, setting out new approaches for conversion, designed to create greater opportunities and flexibility for enrolled nurses to convert to first level training.Regional health authorities have also been made aware that we shall be discussing firm targets for conversion with them as part of the regional review process.
Radiation Errors
Mr. Cousins : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list all 21 recommendations made as a result of the inquiry into the radiation errors at the Royal Devon and Exeter hospital.
Mr. Mellor : I have arranged for a copy of the report to be placed in the Library.
Organ Transplant Operations
Sir Michael McNair-Wilson : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what percentage of organ transplant operations are successful, organ by organ ; how many of these are first-time operations ; and what percentage of organs are being required by those who have used up the useful life of their first transplant.
Mr. Mellor : According to information provided by the United Kingdom transplant service, the survival of first cadaveric kidney grafts at one year is approximately 75 per cent., and for second grafts about 70 per cent. Numbers of subsequent grafts are too small to provide meaningful estimates. In 1986, about 20 per cent. of all cadaveric kidney transplants were regrafts. Many of the original grafts would have required replacement because they had been rejected, or failed for some other reason. Comprehensive statistics on graft survival for other forms of transplantation are not held centrally.
Prescriptions
Ms. Primarolo : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what was the cost to the National Health Service of the 25.5 million prescriptions dispensed by community pharmacists in 1987.
Mr. Mellor : I assume that the hon. Member is referring to prescriptions for benzodiazepines. The net ingredient cost of the 25.5 million prescriptions for these drugs dispensed in Great Britain in 1987 was £25.3 million.
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Benzodiazepine
Ms. Primarolo : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what funds will be allocated under the central funding initiative to projects in the catering specifically for benzodiazepine dependence in 1989-90.
Mr. Mellor : None. The central funding initiative was set up in 1983 and grants were awarded for a maximum of three years. Most grants have now therefore ended.
Ms. Primarolo : To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether the chief medical officer has met the representatives of the medical profession to discuss benzodiazepine prescribing ; what further action has been decided upon to reduce the number of people taking ; benzodiazepines ; and whether he will make a statement.
Mr. Mellor : The chief medical officer held a useful meeting with representatives of the medical profession on 22 November to discuss benzodiazepines. We are considering what action might be taken to follow up some of the helpful suggestions made.
Ms. Primarolo To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether he intends to seek to establish precise figures to show the level of trend in benzodiazepine dependence in future.
Mr. Mellor : It is unlikely that it would be possible to obtain accurate statistical data on those dependent on benzodiazopines. What is important is to encourage careful prescribing of benzodiazepines, to promote alternatives to their use, and to provide services for those experiencing problems as a result of their dependence ; the hon. Member will be aware of the initiatives the Government are taking in this respect.
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Central Funding Initiative
Ms. Primarolo : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what funds will be made available to local statutory and voluntary sector projects under the central funding initiative in 1989-90.
Mr. Mellor : A total of £747,006 will be allocated to statutory and voluntary projects in 1989-90 under the central funding initiative for drug misusers.
Drug Misuse
Ms. Primarolo : To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what allocation of funds will be made to regional health authorities in the United Kingdom for the development of services for drug misusers in 1989-90 ;
(2) what funds will be allocated to the South West regional health authority for the development of drug misuse services, including services for those dependent on benzodiazepines in 1989-90.
Mr. Mellor : We shall announce the allocation of funds to health authorities for 1989-90 shortly.
Bristol Drugs Project
Ms. Primarolo : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what funds will be allocated under the central funding initiative to the Bristol drugs project in future.
Mr. Mellor : Their grant ceased in 1988. A total of £226,070 was awarded to the project under this scheme from 1985 to 1988. Grants under the scheme are for a maximum of three years.
NHS Property and Land
Mr. Meale : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list sales of National Health property and land by regional health authority area since 1979.
Mr. Mellor : The information is in the table.
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Disposal of NHS land
Financial year-total
receipts £
thousands
Region |1979-80|1980-81|1981-82|1982-83|1983-84|1984-85|1985-86|1986-87|1987-88
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Northern |150 |123 |748 |413 |858 |1,436 |1,337 |6,162 |3,872
Yorkshire |766 |713 |961 |1,756 |844 |1,073 |2,005 |4,127 |5,450
Trent |505 |1,596 |1,697 |1,567 |2,342 |3,910 |4,851 |6,308 |7,628
East Anglian |251 |188 |357 |699 |934 |8,184 |3,501 |3,932 |3,812
North West Thames |1,228 |1,293 |4,358 |2,719 |6,096 |6,724 |6,556 |24,452 |50,255
North East Thames |1,804 |1,405 |1,039 |1,061 |3,771 |2,828 |6,272 |13,150 |28,005
South East Thames |336 |746 |1,191 |2,197 |1,570 |2,549 |11,054 |19,789 |25,599
South West Thames |93 |3,451 |1,989 |878 |2,409 |10,510 |9,085 |30,157 |24,541
Wessex |1,323 |748 |383 |461 |1,238 |1,956 |4,687 |10,216 |5,678
Oxford |922 |1,619 |1,194 |2,287 |1,522 |1,745 |7,559 |2,926 |10,617
South Western |1,074 |1,973 |1,567 |537 |972 |2,678 |5,001 |10,872 |10,094
West Midlands |578 |493 |1,114 |1,185 |1,930 |2,311 |3,859 |3,542 |5,311
North Western |338 |334 |1,414 |600 |999 |1,979 |2,515 |8,396 |4,075
BGs/SHAs |272 |Nil |700 |63 |4,559 |49 |14,283 |888 |12,197
England |9,904 |15,231 |19,424 |18,000 |31,508 |49,019 |84,942 |149,026|204,062
Mr. Meale : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list the sales of National Health Service property and land by district health authorities area since 1979.
Mr. Mellor : We do not collect routinely in the Department information of sales of NHS property and land by district health authorities.
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Mentally Ill People
Mr. Meale : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list moneys payable to each district health authority from other health authorities for the provision of services for the mentally ill since June 1987.
Mr. Mellor : I regret that we do not hold the information centrally.
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Salmonella (Eggs)
Sir Hal Miller : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what were the results of the outbreaks of salmonella that have been confirmed by him as being attributable to eggs.
Mr. Kenneth Clarke : Over 1,000 people suffered salmonella food poisoning in the 49 reported outbreaks of salmonellosis associated with the consumption of eggs.
Sir Hal Miller : To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many outbreaks of salmonella attributed by him to eggs could be attributed to the following factors (a) unhygienic food preparation in kitchens, (b) inadequate care in storage and transportation and (c) bad stockmanship on farms.
Mr. Kenneth Clarke : We have no evidence available which attributes outbreaks of salmonella from eggs to these factors.
Mr. Teddy Taylor : To ask the Secretary of State for Health when the infection of turkeys, chickens and eggs with salmonella first came to the attention of his Department.
Mr. Kenneth Clarke : Throughout the post-war years, reports on food poisoning and salmonella infection in England and Wales have indicated that poultry has been a significant source of this infection in humans.
District Health Authorities (Property)
Mr. Meale : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list the occasions since 1979 when consultation documents have been issued by district health authorities on properties in use by them which have been closed on a temporary basis by the district health authorities prior to the expiry date of consultation.
Mr. Mellor : We do not hold this information centrally.
Health Authorities (Access to Information)
Mr. Meale : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will introduce legislation in line with that contained within the Health Authorities (Access to Information) Bill, introduced in the last Session of Parliament, at the earliest opportunity.
National Health Service Premises
Mr. Meale : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list all temporary closures of National Health Service premises by regional health authorities and district health authorities area since 1979, showing which facilities are currently open.
Mr. Mellor : We do not hold this information centrally.
Mr. Meale : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will ensure that the guidelines contained within HSC(IS)207 "Closure or Change of Use of Health Buildings" are adhered to.
Mr. Mellor : Health authorities should be aware of the guidelines. Ministers are prepared to consider any instance where this does not seem to have happened.
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Mr. Meale : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will indicate the difference between the categories of (a) temporary and (b) provisional when it is applied to closures of facilities or services within the National Health Service.
Mr. Mellor : The Community Health Council Regulations 1985, which prescribe procedures to be followed when a health authority wishes to substantially vary the services it provides, do not identify different categories of variations in services.
Community Health Councils
Mr. Meale : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he has any plans to increase the budgets of community health councils.
Mr. Mellor : Community health councils are funded by regional health authorities who make the relevant decisions.
Mr. Meale : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will consider making extra funding available for the purpose of producing and distributing a regular national publication for community health councils, to be edited under their control.
Mr. Mellor : Such a publication exists. It is produced by the Association of Community Health Councils for England and Wales who are funded mainly by member community health councils and by a grant from this Department.
Radiation (Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital)
Mr. Speller : To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether he has received any requests from health authorities in the south-west for assistance in funding the compensation to be paid to patients who were damaged by excessive radiation during treatment at the Royal Devon and Exeter hospital.
Family Planning Clinics
Mr. Fearn : To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many National Health Service family planning clinics have been closed in each of the last three years ; by what amount staffing levels have changed ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Mellor : We do not hold information centrally in the form requested. National figures for the number of health authority family planning clinics and sessions provided in the last three years for which figures are available are set out in the table.
Family Planning Clinic Service-England
Community and hospital clinics<1>
|1984 |1985 |1986
--------------------------------------------------------
Premises regularly used
for family planning
sessions |1,768 |1,746 |1,756
Sessions (all types)<2> |197,127|196,075|195,700
<1> The table covers all clinic services including any
provided by voluntary bodies or others on an agency
basis.
<2> If more than one nurse was present at a "nurse
only" session it has been included as one session
unless each nurse was advising a separate group.
Medical Records
Mr. Ashley : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what information he has from research conducted by his Department or by external researchers about the quality of medical records, and in particular about the extent to which hospitals notify general practitioners about the treatment their patients receive in hospital.
Mr. Mellor : We have no knowledge of recent studies directed specifically to this area.
Dalkon Shield Association
Mr. Ashley : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will meet with representatives of the Dalkon Shield Association to discuss the problems that women who contacted them have encountered in obtaining information about their past medical treatment.
Mr. Mellor : If a request for a meeting is received we shall consider it. I refer, however, the right hon. Member to earlier replies on 28 November 1988 at column 139, which give the basis of our response to inquiries. In particular, it is our long-standing advice to health authorities to be as helpful as possible to patients seeking this kind of information.
HIV
Mr. Butler : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what information he has about the infectivity of HIV in saliva in vitro.
Mr. Mellor : Expert advice is that there are a few studies in which HIV has been isolated from the saliva of a small miniroty of HIV seropositive patients studied. The presence of HIV in saliva from these individuals was demonstrated by techniques involving in-vitro transmission of the virus to mononuclear cells.
However, epidemiological studies show no evidence for the transmission of HIV through saliva.
Lymphatic Cancer and Leukaemia
Sir Michael McNair-Wilson : To ask the Secretary of State for Health when he expects to receive the report from the Committee on Medical Aspects of Radiation in the Environment about the incidence of lymphatic cancer and leukaemia in young children living close to atomic weapons research establishment Aldermaston and atomic weapons research establishment Burghfield.
Mr. Mellor : Following the committee's meeting earlier this month, I expect their report to be finalised in the new year. COMARE's chairman has earlier offered to meet my hon. Friend.
Smoking
Mr. Sims : To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what steps he is taking to implement the recommendations of the section in the fourth report of the Independent Scientific Committee on Smoking and Health relating to the health hazards of passive smoking ; and if he will make a statement ;
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(2) if he will make a statement on the recommendations in the fourth report of the Independent Scientific Committee on Smoking and Health that every workplace with smoking and non- smoking employees should have a properly negotiated smoking police ; and what steps he is taking to ensure that a workplace smoking policy is the norm rather than the exception.Mr. Mellor : The report recommended :
"Consideration should be given to ways of ensuring that in the work and leisure environments, in public transport and in other public enclosed spaces smokers can be segregated from non-smokers". The Government support the voluntary extension of smoke-free areas, including in the workplace. We have been actively encouraging Action on Smoking and Health in its development of a consultancy service to assist employers in the designing of workplace smoking policies. The Health and Safety Executive has recently published a free booklet entitled "Passive smoking at work" which suggests ways of reducing the exposure of non-smokers to tobacco smoke at work and answers some of the questions about the health risks of passive smoking. The fourth report made a number of other recommendations on the subject of passive smoking. The Health Education Authority has publicised the risk of lung cancer associated with passive smoking. The role of environmental tobacco smoke in the occurrence of respiratory illness in children will be kept under review.
Mr. Sims : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps he is taking on the recommendation of the chief medical officer that a clear commitment to a smoke-free environment for all Health Service staff and in all health premises should be made ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Mellor : In May 1985, a circular was issued to NHS authorities offering general anti-smoking advice and asking them to draw up policy statements with a view to making non-smoking normal practice on Health Service premises and for Health Service staff.
Recent surveys have shown that, while a number of authorities have developed comprehensive policies, some still have scope for further progress. We are currently engaged in drafting a revised version of that circular which will draw upon the latest evidence of the damage to health done by passive smoking.
Lodgings and Unregistered Homes
Mr. Rooker : To ask the Secretary of State for Health when he expects to publish the survey on the provision of care in supported lodgings and unregistered homes conducted by the Office of Population Censuses and Surveys.
Mr. Mellor : The results of the Office of Population Censuses and Surveys study of supported lodgings and residential homes are included in two reports. The first report on supported lodgings also includes some results on unregistered homes and was published by Her Majesty's Stationery Office in November. The second report, on residential homes and nursing homes, will include the remaining results on unregistered homes. That report is in preparation, and OPCS hopes to publish it in the summer of next year.
Mr. Janner : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what resources have been made available to the National
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Children's Home during each of the past 10 years ; and what funds he proposes to make available to the National Children's Home for the year 1989.Column 136
Mr. Mellor : We do not hold the information centrally for the years before 1984-85. Grant aid approved for the National Children's Home for the financial years 1984-85 to 1989-90 is as follows :
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£
Year |Grants made under general|Grants made under I.T. |Grants made- Under 5s |Total
|scheme of S.64 grants |Initiative |Initiative
|(£,000) |(£,000) |(£,000) |(£,000)
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1984-85 |- |643.9 |70.0 |713.9
1985-86 |- |779.8 |47.5 |827.3
1986-87 |7.7 |584.6 |85.8 |678.1
1987-88 |19.5 |275.0 |- |294.5
1988-89 |17.5 |275.0 |- |294.5
1989-90 |8.8 |- |- |8.8
In addition, the National Children's Home has applied for a grant of £84,000 over three years, starting in October 1989, to help meet the cost of manning a telephone counselling service in Leeds for survivors of sexual abuse. A decision on this application has yet to be taken.
Mr. Frank Field : To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether each district health authority has continuous and adequate supplies of the new measles, mumps and rubella vaccine.
Mr. Mellor : I understand that all orders from health authorities for MMR vaccine have been, and will continue to be, met in full by the manufacturers.
HOME DEPARTMENT
Firearms Amnesty
Mr. William Ross : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department under what powers he acted in offering the recent firearms amnesty.
Mr. Douglas Hogg : The amnesty had no statutory basis. It amounted to an agreement by chief officers of police, with the consent of my right hon. and learned Friend the Attorney-General, not to bring criminal proceedings for unlawful possession against those who surrendered illegally held firearms to the police during the period of the amnesty.
Departmental Computer Systems
Mr. Kirkwood : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) if he will list in the Official Report the types of intrusion he is trying to prohibit in designing his departmental computer security systems ;
(2) what steps are being taken to protect departmental computer systems against theft of data, malicious damage or illegal tampering with data ;
(3) whether encryption techniques are being employed in his department security system ;
(4) what plans he has to deal with the safety of back-up storage facilities for computer data in his departmental security systems ; (5) what plans he has to control access to information held in individual files in his departmental computer systems ;
(6) whether his computer security system will restrict access to the originator of the data ;
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(7) what recovery procedures are available to a security supervisor of his departmental computer system when passwords are forgotten ; (8) if there is any system for monitoring terminal usage in his departmental computer system ;(9) what procedures exist to remove protection on particular files to make computer data available for general release ;
(10) whether his departmental security system includes physical devices such as keys to protect computer data.
Mr. Douglas Hogg : The Home Office has a large number of mainframe, mini and micro computer based systems in use. To safeguard them, there exists a wide range of measures designed to protect the data that they contain from all known threats, including unauthorised access and intrusion. Given the wide range of systems in use, it would not be practicable to list all the protective measures which support them ; nor, for obvious reasons, would it be sensible to make such information public. All aspects of risk to computer systems are kept under review, and additional precautions are taken as and when necessary.
Prisons
Mr. Cox : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what was the prison population in England and Wales on 1 December 1987 and 1988.
Mr. Douglas Hogg : On 2 December 1988, there were 49,235 persons in prison service establishments in England and Wales and 937 prisoners in police cells. The corresponding figures for 4 December 1987 were 48,697 and 793 respectively.
Mr. Cox : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is the present weekly cost of keeping a person in prison in England and Wales.
Mr. Douglas Hogg : Information on the costs of running the prison service is published in the annual reports on its work, copies of which are in the Library. The report for 1987-88 (CM 516) shows that the average weekly cost of keeping a person in a penal establishment in England and Wales in that year was £275 (see Appendix 6, Table D).
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