House of Commons Hansard Debates for 20 Dec 1990

The Gulf

Mr. Home Robertson : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list the numbers and categories of NHS staff who are being called up for military service in the Gulf ; and what assessment he has made of the consequences of this call-up on the finances of the NHS, and on the quality of service and waiting lists at hospitals.

Mrs. Virginia Bottomley : The results are not yet known of the renewed call for volunteers made by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Defence. Until it is known who has volunteered or been called out, and from where, it is not possible to make any meaningful assessment of the consequences for the national health service.

Incontinence

Mr. Janner : To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many elderly people in Leicestershire are estimated to be in need of incontinence aids ; how many such people are accommodated in residential nursing homes in (a) the public and (b) the private or voluntary sector ; and how many and what percentage of such persons in each sector receive such incontinence pads free of charge.

Mr. Dorrell : Information about the demand for and supply of incontinence pads is not held centrally. However, the consultation document produced by Leicestershire health authority indicates that between 400 and 500 people living in private/voluntary residential care homes may be affected by the withdrawal of free incontinence aids by the district. The district health authority have taken measures to reduce the effect on these

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individuals by continuing to assess the needs of individual residents and the health authority will continue to advise home owners and provide supplies at a cost price.

Mental Illness

Mr. Hannam : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what information he has concerning recent developments in the services for mentally ill in Exeter.

Mrs. Virginia Bottomley : I visited Exeter on 23 November to open the new Cedars Health unit, a £2 million, 42-bed mental health unit. This is one of a number of recent developments in services for the mentally ill in Exeter. These include an 18-bed child and adolescent psychiatric unit ; 10 units with a total of 150 beds, for confused elderly people ; and 11 hostels and sheltered housing developments with a total of 85 places in conjunction with the voluntary sector.

Eye Treatment

Mr. Parry : To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) whether South Sefton district health authority has complied with his Department's guidelines on consultation procedures in respect of the proposed transfer of eye services to the Walton and Fazackerley hospitals ;

(2) how many beds will be provided for children at the Royal Liverpool Hospital for Specialist Eye Treatments.

Mrs. Virginia Bottomley : The future of eye services in Liverpool and South Sefton, including services for children, is currently the subject of consultation by the Liverpool health authority. This is in accordance with laid down procedure. The hon. Member may wish to contact the health authority chairmen concerned for details.

HIV Tests

Mr. Chris Smith : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what discussions he has had with insurance companies about arrangements for counselling before a test for HIV is undertaken at a company's request.

Mrs. Virginia Bottomley : I refer the hon. Member to the reply that I gave him on 19 December at column 243.

Therapy Officers

Mr. Arbuthnot : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he has received the report of the review of the functions of his Department's therapy officer posts ; and if he will make a statement.

Mr. Dorrell : We have now received and considered the report and arranged for copies to be placed in the library. Mr. John Cashman has earned our gratitude for the fair and thorough way in which he has carried out his task. The Department will be giving the departmental staff side the opportunity to comment on the recommendations and on the action proposed.

At the outset, the report commends the present holders of therapy posts in the Department for their commitment, dedication, wide ranging experience and professionalism. We are happy to endorse those comments.

The report's main recommendation is that the department should continue to have an establishment of full-time therapy officers. This should comprise one full-time post each for physiotherapy, occupational

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therapy and speech therapy. We accept this recommendation. Future appointments to these three posts will be made for periods of five years and the need for the posts will be kept under review. The report acknowledges that the department may require additional advice on therapy services which could be met through consultancy contracts or short-term secondments related to specific projects. The case for buying in services in this way will be considered on an annual basis.

A number of other recommendations are aimed at bringing the therapy officers more closely within the mainstream of the Department's management and budgetary arrangements. These will be put into effect as soon as practicable.

Drugs Bill

Mr. Lee : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what is the latest estimate of the drugs bill in 1990-91 and 1991-92.

Mrs. Virginia Bottomley : Our latest forecast of the cost of drugs prescribed by general practitioners in 1990-91 is some £200 millions less than provided in the Estimates. This is forecast to give 1 per cent. growth in real terms over 1989-90, compared with an average of 4 per cent. a year in the five years from 1985-86 to 1989-90, and reflects the effectiveness of the prescribing analysis and cost (PACT) initiative in influencing prescribing by GPs. The forecast

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drugs bill for 1991-92 in our public expenditure plans is £2,310 millions, an increase of 3 per cent. in real terms over the forecast outturn for this year.

Nurse Training

Mr. Lee : To ask the Secretary of State for Health when the joint working group on nurse training and the independent care sector will publish its report.

Mrs. Virginia Bottomley : In 1987 the then Chief Executive of the National Health Service Management Board and the Chief Nursing Officer of the Department of Health met with senior representatives of the independent health care sector to review the sector's contribution to nurse training. It was agreed that a joint working group should be established in order to identify the extent of the independent sector's capacity to increase its contribution to nurse training.

I have today arranged for copies of the group's report, "Training to Care" to be placed in the Library. The principal achievement is a clear commitment from private sector major providers and organisations representing the independent health care sector to increase their overall contribution to nurse training. This encouraging first step will be followed-up by discussion between representatives of the independent sector and the NHS management executive to explore ways of putting that commitment into practice.

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