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Methadone Substitution

Mr. Tom Clarke : To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many addicts are on methadone substitution programmes.

Mr. Freeman : The figures published in the Home Office statistical bulletin, issue 13/89, a copy of which is in the Library, record that there were 12,339 drug addicts in the United Kingdom recorded as receiving methadone to treat their addiction as at 31 December 1988.

Vinegar

Mr. Tom Clarke : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what information he has on the health implications of the consumption of vinegar.

Mrs. Virginia Bottomley : We are not aware of any adverse health implications from the normal usage of vinegar (acetic acid).

Drug Treatment Centres

Mr. Tom Clarke : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what was the expenditure by Her Majesty's Government on specialised drug treatment centres, for each year from 1979.

Mr. Freeman : Information relating to the expenditure by health authorities on specialised drug treatment centres is not held centrally.

Illegal Drugs

Mr. Tom Clarke : To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether he is able to estimate the cost per year to the National Health Service of patients suffering from the effects of illegal drugs.

Mr. Freeman : Because drug misuse has many different effects, which will be treated by a wide range of specific and general medical services, it is not possible to estimate the overall cost to the National Health Service.

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However, since 1984 we have committed nearly £65 million of new money to preventing drug misuse and providing services.

Hormone Replacement Therapy

Mrs. Gorman : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he has any plans to fund a research centre at King's College hospital, London to investigate the beneficial effects of hormone replacement therapy on menopausally related problems.

Mr. Freeman : This matter is still under consideration.

NHS Reform

Miss Widdecombe : To ask the Secretary of State for Health which of the units that have expressed interest in self-governing status intend to prepare applications to become National Health Service community trusts or National Health Service hospital trusts in April 1991.

Mr. Kenneth Clarke : I will not be able to receive any formal applications until Parliament has given approval to the necessary legislation. Since it is for the sponsor of the proposal in individual units to decide whether and when to prepare an application, the picture is likely to change over time. Amongst those units interested in self- governing status, some are more advanced than others and are likely to be in a position to apply to become an NHS trust in the first wave in April 1991. Others will follow in due course. The preparation of applications is proceeding in many places and the local sponsors are drawing up plans for service development that concentrate on the benefits that establishing an NHS trust could bring to the unit and its patients. Neither I nor any local sponsors have entered into any final commitment at this stage in respect of any unit. Seventy-nine units currently intend to prepare draft applications for NHS Trust status in 1991. The units are listed in the table.

Northern RHA

Darlington Hospital and Community Services

Freeman Hospital

Newcastle Mental Health Services

North Tyneside District

Northumbria Ambulance Services

Yorkshire RHA

Bradford Acute Services

Leeds General Infirmary and Associated Hospitals

St. James University Hospital, Leeds

Trent RHA

Bassetlaw

Children's Hospital, Sheffield

Doncaster Royal Infirmary and the Montagu Hospital

Lincolnshire Ambulance Service

Nether Edge Hospital, Sheffield

Northern General Hospital

Royal Hallamshire Hospital, Sheffield

South Lincolnshire Mental Handicap Services

University Hospital, Nottingham

East Anglian RHA

East Suffolk Community Services

Great Yarmouth and Waveney Priority Services

West Norfolk and Wisbech Community Services

West Norfolk and Wisbech Acute Services

North West Thames RHA

Central Middlesex Hospital

Harefield Hospital

Hillingdon Hospital

Mount Vernon Hospital

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North West Hertfordshire Priority Services Unit

North Hertfordshire Acute and Community Services

Northwick Park Hospital

North East Thames RHA

City and Hackney (St. Bartholomew's, Homerton, St. Mark's Hospital Trust)

North Middlesex Hospital

Southend District Services

The London Hospital Group

The Royal Free Hospital

The Royal National Throat, Nose and Ear Hospital

South East Thames RHA

Brighton Acute Services

Bromley Acute Services

Eastbourne Acute Services

Guy's and Lewisham Hospitals and associated Mental Illness Services

King's-Camberwell Acute Services and associated Community Services

St. Thomas's Hospital and associated Community Services

South West Thames RHA

Croydon Mental Handicap Unit

Croydon Community Unit

Kingston Hospital

Mid-Downs West Unit

Mid-Surrey General Unit

South West Surrey Acute Unit

St. Helier and Sutton Hospitals

Wessex RHA

Lymington Hospitals

Royal National Hospital for Rheumatic Diseases

West Dorset Community and General Hospital Services

West Dorset Mental Health Services

Oxford RHA

Nuffield Orthopaedic Centre, Oxford

South Western RHA

Bristol

Cornwall Mental Handicap Services

Cornwall Community Services

East Somerset

East Gloucestershire NHS Trust

Exeter Community Services

North Devon

Plymouth Acute Services

Royal Cornwall Hospitals

South Devon Health Care Trust

West Somerset

West Cornwall

Weston

Wonford Acute Services

West Midlands RHA

Alexandra Hospital

Mid Staffs Mental Health Unit

Mid Staffs Community Unit

Rugby District Services

Walsall Acute Services

Mersey RHA

Broadgreen Hospital, exc. Mersey Regional Cardio-Thoracic Unit Crewe Acute Services

Halton Community Services

Regional Adult Cardio-Thoracic Unit, Liverpool

Royal Liverpool Children's Hospitals

Whiston St. Helens Hospital

North Western RHA

Central Manchester Hospital and Community Services

Christie Hospital

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