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Life-saving Equipment
Mr. Cohen : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what audit systems he has devised to measure the level and effectiveness of provision of essential life-saving equipment ; and if he will make a statement.
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Mr. Freeman : It is for individual health authorities to assess the level of requirement for, and to review the effectiveness of, life-saving equipment in hospitals.
Haemophiliacs
Mr. John Marshall : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the efficacy of the heat treatment of both imported and home-produced blood products as a means of preventing people with haemophilia from contracting HIV through their use.
Mr. Freeman : The efficacy of heat treatment of all kinds of blood products is continually being assessed by the manufacturers who submit their results to the licensing authority and in addition, are reviewed by the Committee on Safety of Medicines.
Mr. John Marshall : To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether the Government have considered applying the vaccine damage payments scheme to the position of people with haemophilia who have contracted HIV through the use of blood products prescribed by the National Health Service.
Mr. Freeman : The Government have already provided an ex-gratia payment of £10 million to set up the Macfarlane Trust to meet the special needs of haemophiliacs infected with HIV and their dependants. Claims for compensation are now being pursued through the courts and I am advised these matters are sub judice.
Community Care
Mr. Hannam : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will examine the implications of sections 1, 2, 3 and 7 of the Disabled Persons (Services, Consultation and Representation) Act 1986 for community care policy.
Mr. Freeman : Our proposals for the future of community care will make clear our intention that all local authorities should fully involve individual disabled people and carers in decisions which affect them. Concerning the implementation of remaining sections of the Disabled Persons (Services, Consultation and Representation) Act 1986, I refer my hon. Friend to my reply to the right hon. Member for Manchester, Wythenshawe (Mr. Morris) and the hon. Member for Monklands, West (Mr. Clarke) on 7 November at column 556 and to my reply to him on 10 November at column 825.
Mr. Allen : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will direct regional and district health authorities not to proceed with closure of National Health Service institutions where adequate plans have not been made and where the local authorities concerned are not able to offer accommodation and services to the people accommodated in that National Health Service care.
Mrs. Virginia Bottomley : As has been made clear in previous statements, we will not approve the closure of NHS institutions unless it can be demonstrated that adequate alternatives for care have been developed. Procedures were outlined in the circular "Discharge of Patients from hospital" (HC(89)5) sent to all health and local authorities earlier this year. A copy has been placed in the Library. In addition, from 1 April, all district health authorities will be required to have instituted a "care programme" approach for the continuing care of mentally
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ill people being treated in the community to ensure that their needs are assessed before discharge and arrangements are made to meet their needs.Mr. Allen : To ask the Secretary of State for Health which local health authorities have not reached agreement with local authorities on plans for implementing "Care in the Community".
Mrs. Virginia Bottomley : Health authorities and local authorities are statutorily obliged to collaborate in the planning and development of community care services. Joint consultative committees are required to be set up in every DHA area, involving
representatives of health and local authorities and the voluntary sector. Information is not held centrally on the specific form of agreements reached at local level on plans for community care, although health authorities are held to account for their performance as part of the annual review process.
Mr. Anthony Coombs : To ask the Secretary of State for Health when the Government's White Paper on community care will be published.
Mr. Kenneth Clarke : I am pleased to be able to announce that our White Paper, "Caring for People : Community Care in the Next Decade and Beyond" will be published on Thursday 16 November. It will set out the Government's proposals for the future organisation and management of community care, building on the broad conclusions which I outlined in my statement to the House on 12 July, following consideration of Sir Roy Griffiths' report. It will take account of discussions we have subsequently held with leading organisations and professional bodies in the community care field, including the voluntary sector, as well as the many views and responses we have received.
NHS Funds
Mr. Cummings : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what representations he has received on the allocation of funds for National Health Service services in (a) Durham area health authority, (b) Sunderland area health authority, (c) Hartlepool area health authority, and (d) the Northern regional health authority.
Mr. Freeman : We have received no recent representations on the allocation of funds to the Northern regional health authority or the three district health authorities named. Between 1978-79 and 1989-90 Northern region has received an estimated real terms growth of 33 per cent. compared with 30 per cent. for England as a whole. This includes an estimated real terms increase in 1989-90 of 1.9 per cent. compared to 1.6 per cent. for England as a whole. The allocation of funds to district health authorities is of course a matter solely for the regional health authority concerned.
NHS Dentists
Mr. Cummings : To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether he will list the number of National Health Service dentists in (a) Durham area health authority, (b) Sunderland area health authority, and (c) Hartlepool area health authority, for each year from 1979 to 1989.
Mr. Freeman : The information is given in the tables.
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General dental service dentists at 30 September each year<1>
|Cleveland FPC |Durham FPC |Sunderland FPC
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
1979 |93 |95 |47
1980 |93 |99 |46
1981 |95 |102 |48
1982 |102 |110 |55
1983 |108 |117 |61
1984 |120 |118 |61
1985 |125 |127 |66
1986 |131 |126 |61
1987 |145 |136 |68
1988 |146 |132 |67
<1> Because Family Practitioner Committee (FPC) boundaries are not
coterminous with health Authority Boundaries this information on General
Dental Service Dentists is not in the precise form requested. The figures
for Cleveland FPC include Hartlepool HA, North Tees HA and South Tees HA
and the figures for Durham FPC include Durham HA, North West Durham HA,
South West Durham HA and Darlington HA.
Hospital and community health service dental staff at 30
September
each year
|Hartlepool |Durham |Sunderland
Total staff |Total staff|Total staff
------------------------------------------------------------
1982 |6 |32 |26
1983 |5 |28 |25
1984 |5 |29 |27
1985 |4 |26 |29
1986 |2 |27 |31
1987 |3 |27 |32
1988 |4 |21 |24
Notes:
1. Figures include permanent paid, honorary and locum
staff. From 1987 figures also include Agency Locum staff.
2. Because of the 1982 NHS reorganisation consistent data
for these DHAs are not available for earlier years.
Homoeopathy
Mr. Alton : To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many homoeopathic beds are available in the north-west of England ; and what plans he has to extend that provision.
Mr. Freeman : The use of complementary therapies, including homoepathy, is increasing in the NHS. There are, for example, homoeopathic clinic facilities in Manchester. However, the number of beds available in the north-west of England is not known centrally.
Mr. Alton : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimates he has of the average cost of homoeopathic medicine per patient compared with the average cost of treating a patient in general practice.
Mrs. Virginia Bottomley : We do not collect centrally patient-linked data on medicines which are prescribed. Subject only to the requirement of the selected list scheme, GPs are free to prescribe under the NHS any medicine, including homoeopathic medicines, which they consider to be clinically necessary for the treatment of their patients.
Occupational Therapists
Mr. Vaz : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what are the percentage vacancies of occupational therapists in each local social services authority area.
Mrs. Virginia Bottomley : This information is not available centrally.
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Premature Births
Mr. Thurnham : To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many babies were born in 1987 at (a) 24 weeks, (b) 25 weeks, (c) 26 weeks and (d) 27 weeks gestation ; how many of these babies survived for one year ; how many were born so handicapped as to require special care for the rest of their lives ; and what is the estimated cost in medical care for these babies for the remainder of their lives.
Mr. Freeman : The information requested is not available : information on gestation is not collected at live-birth registration.
Smoking-related Diseases
Mr. Sims : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will give an estimate of the amount of time lost through absenteeism of staff in the National Health Service due to smoking-related diseases ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Freeman : The monitoring of sickness absence is a matter for individual employing health authorities. We do not collect such detailed information centrally.
Disabled Persons
Mr. Ashley : To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) if his Department has drawn up any guidelines for the implementation of section 7 of the Disabled Persons Act 1986 ;
(2) on what date he last met disability organisations to discuss section 7 of the Disabled Persons Act 1986 ;
(3) on what date he last met local authority associations to discuss section 7 of the Disabled Persons Act 1986.
Mr. Freeman : We have not met any bodies specifically, to discuss, section 7 of the Disabled Persons (Services, Consultation and Representation) Act 1986 but officials met representatives of the local authority associations in March 1989. The Government's position on implementation will be made clear in the White Paper on community care to be published shortly.
Parliamentary Questions
Mr. Fisher : To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many (a) oral and (b) written questions were asked of his Department in 1988-89.
Mr. Freeman : The information requested is as follows :
21 November 1988 to 9 November 1989
inclusive
|Oral |Written
-----------------------------------------
House of Commons |<1>841 |4,615
House of Lords |44 |78
<1>Of this figure 86 received an oral
answer and 755 received a written
answer.
Mr. Fisher : To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many written parliamentary questions he refused to answer in the parliamentary Session 1988-89.
Mr. Freeman : Hon. and right hon. Members will normally be referred to the responsible health or local authority for details of : --locally determined policies and priorities ;
--the applications locally of national priorities ;
--statistics etc. which are only available locally ;
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--operational cases where responsibility rests locally andwhere the local mechanisms for inquiry have not yetbeen exhausted.Mr. Fisher : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what was the cost to his Department of answering parliamentary (a) oral and (b) written questions in the parliamentary Session 1988-89.
Mr. Freeman : Preparing replies for parliamentary questions is an integral part of the duties of officials of the Department. It is not possible to identify the time spent and thus the cost incurred in carrying out this particular duty.
Statistics
Mr. Fisher : To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether his Department has discontinued (a) the collection or (b) the publication of any statistics since 1979.
Mr. Freeman : Changes in statistical series are made when the Government's requirements for statistical information alter and in response to changes in the administrative systems on which some series are based. Certain changes have taken place on this basis since 1979. Such changes are documented in the Department's publications as required. For example, the effect of the implementation of the recommendations of the steering group on health services information (the Korner committee) was summarised in "Health Services Information--Changes to National Statistics" as well as in publications such as "Health and Personal Social Services Statistics for England 1989", copies of which are in the Library.
The publication of certain booklets containing manpower statistics has been discontinued but these statistics are freely available in the Library and an ad hoc service provides information on demand in the most suitable form for the user. Other new booklets have been introduced in response to current demand.
AIDS
Mr. Parry : To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people have died from AIDS in each of the last three years in England and Wales.
Mrs. Virginia Bottomley : Deaths of people with AIDS in England and Wales which have been reported to the communicable disease surveillance centre, by year of death are :
|Number
----------------------
1986 |252
1987 |316
1988 |310
<1>1989 |240
<1> (to end
September)
Mr. Parry : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what is the number of people suffering from AIDS in England and Wales at the latest date.
Mrs. Virginia Bottomley : At the end of October 1989, a total of 1, 229 people were reported to be suffering from AIDS in England and Wales.
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Sterilisation
Mr. Kennedy : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what guidance he gives to district health authorities to provide for the sterilisation of women on social grounds ; and if he will make a statement on the Government's policy towards the provision of social sterilisations.
Mrs. Virginia Bottomley : Health authorities are asked to make female sterilisation operations available as an NHS service both for medical reasons and on family planning grounds where, after full consultation, it is the method of choice. The priority which can be given to these operations generally is a matter for clinical judgment and local decision.
Relocation of Work
Mr. Cran : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps he is taking to implement his Department's review on the relocation of headquarters work.
Mr. Kenneth Clarke : I have this morning announced that the whole of the work of the National Health Service management executive, involving some 1,000 posts, should be located in Leeds. I expect the first moves to begin in 1992. After that, the people in my Department responsible for the management of the NHS will be based in Leeds while those responsible for health policy and strategy will be based in London.
I have today placed copies of the review team's report in the Library. I carefully considered the review team's report before reaching my decision which closely matches its recommendation that a substantial amount of my Department's headquarters work in London should be relocated.
I welcome the parallel announcement by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Social Security that some 800 posts in DSS are also moving to Leeds.
Food Hygiene (Aircraft)
Mr. Michael Marshall : To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether the food hygiene regulations apply to aircraft.
Mr. Freeman : The Food Hygiene (General) Regulations 1970 apply to ground-based airline catering establishments. However, these regulations are not enforceable on aircraft. Under the Food Act 1984, enforcement officers' powers of entry to aircraft are restricted to entry for the purpose of inspecting imported food.
I am announcing today that the Government will be seeking powers to update food legislation to extend food safety controls to food supplied to passengers on aircraft flying from British airports. We will be seeking similar powers to cover ships and oil and gas rigs within British territory. Primary legislation would not impose any specific obligations, but would permit regulations to be made setting out detailed requirements in the future. Any regulations which are made will be subject to consultation with interested organisations. These powers will be sought as part of a wider Bill dealing with food safety, which will be introduced as soon as parliamentary time permits.
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Organ Transplants
Sir Michael McNair-Wilson : To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many of the patients waiting on the kidney transplant list for an organ have already had at least one transplanted organ ; and how many are new additions.
Mr. Freeman [holding answer 30 October 1989] : According to information provided by the United Kingdom transplant service, the number of United Kingdom patients waiting for a kidney transplant on 7 November 1989 was 3,506. Of this total 1,001 (or 29 per cent.) of patients had previously received a transplant.
Sir Michael McNair-Wilson : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list the number of kidney transplants carried out by the individual regional health authorities during the past 12 months and, where possible, whether the transplants derived from kidney donors in their areas or as a result of United Kingdom transplant service.
Mr. Freeman [holding answer 30 October 1989] : Information is not readily available in the precise form requested. The number of kidney transplants reported by NHS hospitals to the United Kingdom transplant service for 1988 is shown in the table. The total number of transplants performed within each regional health authority area is divided into those using organs retrieved by the transplanting centre, and those using organs imported from another retrieving centre either within or outside the region concerned.
Regional Health Authority |Transplants<1> |Transplants<2> |Total ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Northern |71 |22 |93 Yorkshire |43 |35 |78 Trent |50 |49 |99 East Anglia |77 |5 |82 North West Thames |23 |35 |58 North East Thames |78 |63 |141 South East Thames |85 |86 |171 South West Thames |33 |17 |50 Wessex |56 |8 |64 Oxford |60 |9 |69 South Western |74 |33 |107 Mersey |34 |20 |54 North Western |97 |33 |130 Special Health Authorities |8 |15 |23 <1>Using organs retrieved by local centre <2>Using organs imported from another centre
Lobotomy and Leucotomy Operations
Mr. Flynn : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what is his Department's current advice on the value of pre-frontal lobotomy and leucotomy operations.
Mrs. Virginia Bottomley [holding answer 9 November 1989] : The Department does not offer a view on the value or otherwise of particular surgical procedures. Decisions about treatment are for the professions involved. Psycho-surgical operations can only be undertaken when the special procedures of section 57 of the Mental Health Act 1983 have been followed.
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National Health Service Spending
Mr. Ieuan Wyn Jones : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what resources he intends to commit to health education in 1990 ; and what was the proportion of the National Health Service budget spent on health education in (a) 1974, (b) 1979 and (c) 1984.
Mr. Freeman [holding answer 2 November 1989] : The information available relates to provision for the Health Education Authority and the Department's information services. This includes some items, for example nurse recuitment, which are not primarily educational. It excludes the expenditure on health education by regional health authorities, which is not identified separately. For the year ending 31 March 1990, current provision for the Health Education Authority and the Department's information services is about £41 million. As a proportion of total National Health Service expenditure, provision for these two programmes was :
Year ending |Percent. -------------------------------------- 31 March 1974 |0.09 31 March 1979 |0.07 31 March 1984 |0.09
HOME DEPARTMENT
Political Refugees
Mr. Parry : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many political refugees there are at present in the United Kingdom.
Mr. Peter Lloyd : Information is not available on the total numbers of those who have been granted refugee status in the United Kingdom and are still living here. Available information on grants of refugee status is set out in an annual Home Office statistical bulletin (most recently "Refugee Statistics, United Kingdom, 1988", issue 25/89) and in provisional quarterly figures supplied to UNHCR, copies of which are placed in the Library.
Information on acceptances for settlement as refugees is published in the annual command paper (most recently "Control of Immigration : Statistics, United Kingdom, 1988" Cm 726, table 18), and in a quarterly statistical bulletin (most recently "Control of Immigration : Statistics--Second Quarter 1989", issue 31/89, table 3) ; copies of which are also in the Library.
Mr. Parry : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list the countries from which persons are seeking political refuge.
Mr. Peter Lloyd : Available information on pending applications for refugee status, broken down by nationality, is set out in an annual Home Office statistically bulletin (most recently "Refugee Statistics United Kingdom, 1988" issue 25/89) and in provisional quarterly figures supplied to UNHCR, copies of which are placed in the Library.
Wandsworth (Prison Officers' Accommodation)
Mr. Cox : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is the number of prison officers' accommodation at Wandsworth prison for which requests have been made by officers to purchase, as of 1 November.
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Mr. Mellor : A total of 132 requests have been received to purchase, under the Prison Department scheme for the discount sale of quarters, from officers at Wandsworth. Of these 95 relate to houses of which 60 sales have been completed, 23 are in the hands of solicitors, 10 offers have been made and two are with the district valuer. In addition, there are 37 applications to purchase flats or maisonettes, these being leasehold pose particular problems and it is also necessary to set up management companies to administer these properties after sale. The Treasury Solicitor, in liaison with two firms of private solicitors, is currently working on the documentation for this and the draft leases as necessary for the sale of individual flats. A further house at Wandsworth has been sold outside the discount sales scheme at full market value.
ACPO (Europe Working Party)
Mr. Wigley : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what co-ordination there has been between his Department and the Association of Chief Police Officers working party on Europe ; and whether any Government funding is granted to the working group.
Mr. Waddington : My officials have regular discussions with members of the association on European and other international policing matters. The Home Office has made a grant to the association of £191, 000 in 1989-90 to meet the costs of its secretariat, which supports the association's activities in general.
Child Abuse
Mrs. Dunwoody : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list the number of child abuse cases dealt with by magistrates and other courts in 1988-89 ; and in how many cases a guilty verdict was recorded.
Mr. John Patten : The available information is given in the table. It is only possible from the information held centrally to identify offences where the victim is known to be aged under 16. 1989 data are not yet available.
Defendants prosecuted at magistrates' courts and found guilty<1> at all
courts for specific offences involving children under 16
England and Wales 1988
Offence |Total proceeded against|Total found guilty
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Violence against the person
Murder of infant under 1 year of age |13 |1
Infanticide |1 |4
Child Destruction |2 |-
Cruelty to, or neglect of, children |229 |165
Abandoning child aged under 2 years |- |1
Child abduction |56 |26
Sexual offences
Buggery with a boy under the age of
16 or with a woman or an animal |320 |232
Attempt to commit buggery with a boy
under the age of 16 or with a
woman or an animal |28 |31
Indecent assault on a male aged under
16 years |559 |460
Indecent assault on a female aged
under 16 years |2,159 |1,650
Unlawful sexual intercourse with a girl
aged under 13 |165 |135
Unlawful sexual intercourse with a girl
aged under 16 |345 |340
Incest with girl under 13 |105 |104
Inciting girl aged under 16 to have
incestuous sexual intercourse |3 |2
Householder permitting unlawful
sexual intercourse with girl aged
under 16 years |10 |5
Person responsible for girl aged under
16 causing or encouraging her
prostitution, etc. |- |1
Abduction of unmarried girl aged
under 16 |20 |8
Gross indecency with children |226 |246
Summary offences
Violence against the person
Cruelty to, or neglect of, children |2 |2
<1>Includes persons proceeded against in earlier years or for other offences.
Fire Brigades
Mr. Bill Michie : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, further to his reply to the hon. Member for Sheffield, Heeley, Official Report, 27 October 1988, column 321, whether he is satisfied with the progress being made on the preparation of fire brigade war plans ; and if he will make a statement about the outcome of his review of this matter.
Mr. John Patten : Initial findings of the review indicated wide variations between brigades in the level of their war planning. Chief fire officers have been provided with information and guidance on their brigade plans, and encouraging progress has generally been made. Plans will continue to reviewed as part of the wider process of monitoring local authorities' civil defence preparedness.
Mr. Bill Michie : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he has received any representations concerning the possible appointment of fire officers as members of the ad hoc working party on emergency communications ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. John Patten : Yes. However, we are satisfied that relevant fire service interests can be adequately covered through the existing local authority staff membership of the working party and, where necessary, through direct contact with fire staff engaged on civil defence activities.
Right of Arrest
Mr. Flynn : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is Her Majesty's Government policy towards accepting the right of arrest on United Kingdom soil by United States Government law enforcement agents of prospective offenders, without due application for extradition, as has recently been endorsed by the United States Department of Justice.
Mr. Waddington : It is the Government's established policy strenuously to resist all attempts by any foreign country to exercise extra -territorial jurisdiction within the United Kingdom.
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Bail
Ms. Armstrong : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what proportion of all those cases that come before magistrates courts where the police do not oppose bail are refused bail.
Mr. John Patten : Information is not available centrally on the number of cases where magistrates courts have remanded defendants in custody although the Crown Prosecution Service did not oppose the grant of bail. However, a sample drawn from two magistrates' courts in 1986 suggests that the proportion is very small, (about 2 per cent. of cases where no objection to bail was made).
Drugs
Mr. Hinchliffe : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many inmates in gaols in England and Wales were disciplined for the possession and use of an unlawful drug during : (a) 1986, (b) 1987, (c) 1988 and (d) so far in 1989.
Mr. Mellor : Some 1,630 offences of possession of controlled drugs were punished in 1986, 1,540 in 1987 and 1,940 in 1988. Information for 1989 is not yet available.
Crime Concern Initiative
Mr. Sayeed : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will indicate the expenditure to date on his Crime Concern initiative.
Mr. John Patten : Crime Concern, the independent crime prevention organisation, received a Home Office grant-in-aid of £500,000 in 1988- 89 ; the grant for the current year is £1 million.
Mr. Key : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the progress and achievements of the Crime Concern initiative.
Mr. John Patten : Since it was established in May 1988 Crime Concern has made encouraging progress in its central task of stimulating and supporting local crime prevention activity. So far the organisation has
raised money through private sector sponsorship for various projects ;
launched, in close association with the Confederation of British Industry, a national business and crime initiative ;
held several conferences, including one for members of youth crime prevention panels ;
relaunched the magazine Good Neighbour as a means of communicating with members of Neighbourhood Watch ; we look to them to do everything possible to promote the Neighbourhood Watch movement as a priority ; and
set up in Luton the first of a series of area crime reduction programmes involving co-operation between the police, local government and other agencies, and the private sector ; I am informed that negotiations are under way in 15 other places.
Lotteries
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