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Mr. Allen : To ask the Lord President of the Council (1) if he will list those individual organisations within the precincts of the House which can receive the cable or satellite signal of the sittings of the Commons and, in each case, by what authority they are permitted to do so ;
(2) by what route hon. Members can be authorised to receive the cable or satellite signal of the proceedings of the House ;
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(3) if he will make a statement on the installation of a cable television service to cover the proceedings of the House and the access which hon. Members will have in their offices to the service.Mr. MacGregor : At present, no one within the House or its outbuildings is either authorised, or has the technical capability, to receive cable or satellite television channels, whether or not they might carry live, continuous coverage of the House's proceedings. United Artists, for instance, intends to incorporate such a dedicated channel, from January 1992, into its local cable services. Special access to CNN's news service was, however, provided on a temporary basis, and at a single viewing point, during the Gulf war.
A study to determine the cost and feasibility of installing such facilities on a permanent basis is being carried out by the Parliamentary Works Office and will be considered in the near future by the relevant domestic Committees established as part of the Ibbs recommendations. If the hon. Member has any specific query about this matter he should take it up direct with the appropriate Committees.
Members' Facilities
Mr. Allen : To ask the Lord President of the Council what examinations or analyses are currently being undertaken into Members' facilities, salaries and allowances ; and by whom.
Mr. MacGregor : As the hon. Member knows, a Select Committee of the House is currently looking into the hours of sittings of the House, and the Top Salaries Review Body is currently reviewing the office costs allowance.
Noteworthy studies into the improvement of facilities for Members include preliminary planning for Phase 2 of the new parliamentary building by Michael Hopkins and Partners ; an examination of the feasibility of converting the St. Stephen's Tavern premises for use by groups of Members' guests by Touche Ross and Co. and PSA Projects ; a preliminary brief for the conversion in 1992 of the Members' and Strangers' Cafeterias for use by Members and their guests by Alex Gordon Partnerships ; a study of further measures to facilitate access to and in the House for disabled Members and the public ; an investigation into the cost and feasibility of introducing a broad band cable network to the House, which has been commissioned by the Parliamentary Works Office. It is also understood that the Director of Works on behalf of both Houses is arranging for consultants to conduct an examination of the cleaning arrangements for the Palace.
Correspondence
Mr. Michael Spicer : To ask the Lord President of the Council when the hon. Member for Worcestershire, South can expect an answer to his letters dated 15 August and 30 September.
Mr. MacGregor : I shall write to the hon. Member as soon as possible.
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Office Costs Allowance
Mr. Allen : To ask the Lord President of the Council if he will make a statement on the progress of the Hay management consultants' study and the Office of Manpower Economics contribution to the Top Salaries Review Body review of the office costs allowance.
Mr. MacGregor : As I announced on 25 July 1991, at column 815, I have asked the Top Salaries Review Body to conduct a review of the office costs allowance. The conduct of the review is a matter for the TSRB, but I understand that it is proceeding according to the agreed timetable.
Parliamentary Questions
Mr. Flynn : To ask the Lord President of the Council when he intends to respond to the recommendations of the third report of 1990-91 on the Select Committee on Procedure (HC 178) on parliamentary questions.
Mr. MacGregor [holding answer 14 October 1991] : I am presently giving careful consideration to the report and will respond as soon as is practicable.
Mr. McMaster : To ask the Lord President of the Council if he will introduce a motion to amend the order of 27 May 1988 on the Procedure Committee to establish a Sub-Committee to decide which parliamentary questions that exceed the disproportionate cost threshold should be answered by Ministers ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. MacGregor : No. The threshold is not binding, and it must be for Ministers to decide how to reply.
Marchioness Accident Report
Mr. Spearing : To ask the Lord President of the Council if he will make a statement concerning the availability to hon. Members of the report on the Marchioness disaster, published on 15 August ; and what action he has taken, or intends to take, to ensure that documents of similar importance are available to hon. Members immediately following their publication.
Mr. MacGregor [holding answer 14 October 1991] ; There are no set guidelines covering the availability of non-command documents to hon. Members ; it is up to Departments themselves to decide which documents they wish to deposit in the House.
As regards the report on the Marchioness disaster, I understand no copies were deposited in the Vote Office, but some copies were available in the Library.
Hon. Members can of course also order publications on "green form" basis from HMSO.
POLIS
Mr. McMaster : To ask the Lord President of the Council what procedures hon. Members should follow to gain direct access to POLIS in their offices within the House.
Mr. MacGregor : Hon. Members wishing to have direct access to POLIS must already have a personal computer with modem and communications software installed in their office. The modem must be connected to a telephone line. They should apply to the Head of Computer and Technical Services Section, House of Commons Library,
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giving the speed and type of modem. She can then arrange for the necessary password to be assigned and for signing-on instructions to be issued to the Member.As I informed the House on 8 July ( Official Report, columns 727-30 ), the installation of a House-wide data network is under consideration. If this is approved, POLIS will be accessible through the new network rather than the telephone system.
Mr. McMaster : To ask the Lord President of the Council if he will take steps to ensure that hon. Members may have direct access to POLIS in their constituency offices and/or homes.
Mr. MacGregor : Hon. Members in possession of a personal computer with a modem and communications software can have direct access to POLIS from their constituency offices and/or homes through the telephone system. The only costs to Members are the telephone call charges : the cheapest method for those located outside the London telephone area is to have a contract with British Telecom for access to the packet switching system (PSS).
Communications Facilities
Mr. Atkinson : To ask the Lord President of the Council what facilities exist for hon. Members to receive facsimile communications from constituents at the House.
Mr. MacGregor : Constituents may send facsimile messages for hon. Members direct to any Member's personal facsimile machine ; alternatively a Member may arrange to receive a message through the Faxmail system at the Central Lobby post office if he or she accepts the charge for transmission and handling.
Agencies (Replies to Members)
Mr. Flynn : To ask the Lord President of the Council when he expects to reply to the recommendation of the Procedure Committee that replies from agency chief executives to parliamentary questions referred to them by Ministers should appear in the Official Report.
Mr. MacGregor [holding answer 21 October 1991] : The Government expect to publish their response early in the new Session in the course of its reply to the latest Treasury and Civil Service Committee report on "next steps", which addressed the same issue.
HEALTH
Long-term Patients
Mr. Redmond : To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what safeguards are in force to avoid misuse of long-term patients' private money savings by hospital authorities ;
(2) what safeguards are currently in force to prevent the misuse of patients' moneys when a long-stay patient is transferred from a national health service hospital into a private nursing home ; and if he will make a statement ;
(3) if he will list for what purposes long-stay patients' private moneys can be used by hospital authorities.
Mr. Dorrell : Guidance to health authorities on the custody, deposit, investment and disposal of patients' money is contained in HM(71)90, a copy of which is in the
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Library. Patients' moneys may be used in a variety of ways provided these are to the personal benefit of the patient and take account of their wishes in so far as these can be ascertained. They may not be spent by health authorities on items which authorities themselves are responsible for providing. Where a patient is discharged from NHS care into a private nursing home, the patient's money may not be retained by the NHS. If the patient is not capable of arranging his own affairs, the circumstance should be brought to the attention of the Court of Protection, which is responsible for ensuring the proper expenditure of any funds and that the proper benefits are claimed. The Department will be writing to health authorities and NHS trusts to ensure that both directly managed units and NHS trusts observe good practice in handling these moneys.Health Service, Doncaster
Mr. Redmond : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what is the current availability of the number of beds available to (a) national health service patients and (b) private patients, in (i) Doncaster royal infirmary and (ii) Mexborough Montagu hospital ; and what the position was 12 months ago.
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Mr. Dorrell : The information is given in the table.
NHS and private beds
NHS beds Private beds
March |Doncaster |Montagu |Doncaster
|Royal |Hospital |Health
|Infirmary |Authority<2>
-----------------------------------------------------------------
1990 |857 |154 |3
1991<1> |829 |160 |3
<1> Provisional.
<2> No amenity beds recorded in Doncaster health authority.
Source: NHS bed figures KHO3 (KH3Q) return (site level);
Private bed figures KHO2 return (district level).
Mr. Redmond : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will give the current (a) waiting time and (b) waiting lists for each specialty in the Doncaster health authority, and the number of people who have waited (i) for over one year and (ii) for over two years in each specialty ; and what the position was 12 months ago.
Mrs. Virginia Bottomley : The available information is given in the table.
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Doncaster District Health Authority
31 March 1990 31 March 1991
Specialty |Total |Patients |Patients |In-patients|Total |Patients |Patients |In-patients
|patients |waiting |waiting |treated in |patients |waiting |waiting |treated in
|waiting |over 1 year|over 2 |year |waiting |over 1 year|over 2 |year
|years |1989-90 |years |1990-91<1>
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
100-General Surgery |1,029 |109 |13 |7,645 |1,298 |217 |13 |7,851
101-Urology |0 |0 |0 |33 |0 |0 |0 |0
110-Trauma and
Orthopaedics |533 |131 |52 |3,185 |428 |47 |0 |3,198
120-ENT |1,786 |445 |24 |2,447 |1,824 |598 |70 |2,496
130-Ophthalmology |439 |61 |6 |982 |563 |161 |6 |963
140-Oral Surgery |230 |20 |5 |518 |268 |20 |4 |498
180-Accident and
Emergency |0 |0 |0 |48 |0 |0 |0 |0
190-Anaesthetics |0 |0 |0 |6 |0 |0 |0 |0
501-Obs and Gyn (Obs) |0 |0 |0 |6,164 |0 |0 |0 |6,703
502-Obs and Gyn (Gyn) |621 |13 |1 |5,301 |472 |58 |1 |5,093
300-General Medicine |1 |0 |0 |8,927 |0 |0 |0 |8,758
303-Haematology (Clinical) |0 |0 |0 |217 |0 |0 |0 |116
330-Dermatology |4 |0 |0 |0 |4 |0 |0 |221
340-Thoracic Medicine |0 |0 |0 |48 |0 |0 |0 |33
360-Genito-urinary
Medicine |0 |0 |0 |34 |0 |0 |0 |51
410-Rheumatology |25 |1 |0 |464 |18 |3 |0 |507
420-Paediatrics |0 |0 |0 |7,782 |0 |0 |0 |7,788
430-Geriatric Medicine |0 |0 |0 |2,462 |2 |0 |0 |2,877
610-General Practice
(Maternity) |0 |0 |0 |399 |0 |0 |0 |300
700-Mental Handicap |0 |0 |0 |106 |2 |0 |0 |58
710-Mental Illness |33 |16 |1 |1,130 |3 |0 |0 |1,060
711-Child and Adolescent
Psychiatry |0 |0 |0 |28 |0 |0 |0 |32
715-Old Age Psychiatry |0 |0 |0 |0 |16 |4 |3 |253
|------- |------- |------- |------- |------- |------- |------- |-------
888-Total |4,680 |795 |102 |47,926 |4,898 |1,108 |97 |48,887
<1> In-paitents treated figures for 1990-91 are provisional.
Mr. Redmond : To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many hospital beds are currently available in Doncaster for (a) medical, (b) surgical, (c) maternity, (d) geriatric and (e) other health care ; and what the comparable figures were (i) 12 months, (ii) 24 months, (iii) 36 months and (iv) 48 months previously.
Mr. Dorrell : I will write to the hon. Member.
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Sickle Cell Anaemia
Mr. Redmond : To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) pursuant to his answer of 2 July, Official Report , column 117 , to the hon. Member for Don Valley, if he will make it his practice to keep central records of lists by regional health authorities and by district health authorities of facilities provided for (a) sickle cell
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counselling, (b) sickle cell screening, (c) sickle cell ante-natal screening and (d) sickle cell post-natal screening respectively ; and if he will make a statement ;(2) pursuant to his answer to the hon. Member for Don Valley of 27 June, Official Report , column 543 , if he will make it his practice to keep central records of lists by regional health authorities and by district health authorities, on the amount of funds provided for sickle cell treatment ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Dorrell : There are no plans to do so.
Cross-border Referrals
Mr. William Powell : To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) whether the cross-boundary referral contracts between south Lincolnshire district health authority and Peterborough district health authority for 1991-92, in which south Lincolnshire is the purchaser, covers all areas of medical specialties ; and whether there have been any exclusions to such provision for (a) in-patients and (b) out-patients ;
(2) how he proposes to ensure that full and proper provision for adult psychiatry patients resident in south Lincolnshire district health authority and referred by their general practitioner to Peterborough district health authority will be provided in 1992-93 for (a) in-patients and (b) out-patients ;
(3) whether the cross-border referral contracts between south Lincolnshire district health authority and Peterborough district health authority for 1991-92, in which south Lincolnshire is the purchaser, includes full provision for adult psychiatry patients referred by their general practitioner as (a) in-patients and (b) out-patients.
Mr. Dorrell : The information requested is not held centrally. The hon. Member may wish to contact Dr. J. Brackenridge, the chairman of south Lincolnshire health authority, for details.
Mr. William Powell : To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) whether the cross-border referral contracts between Kettering district health authority and Peterborough district health authority for 1991-92, in which Kettering is the purchaser, includes full provision for adult psychiatry patients referred by their general practitioner as (a) in- patients and (b) out-patients ; (2) how he proposed to ensure that full and proper provision for adult psychiatry patients resident in Kettering district health authority and referred by their general practitioner to Peterborough district health authority will be provided in 1992-93 for (a) in-patients and (b) out-patients ;
(3) whether the cross-boundary referral contracts between Kettering district health authority and Peterborough district health authority for 1991-92, in which Kettering district health authority is the purchaser, covers all areas of medical specialties ; and whether there have been any exclusions to such provision for (a) in-patients and (b) out-patients.
Mr. Dorrell : The information requested is not held centrally. The hon. Member may wish to contact Mr. R. Button, the chairman of Kettering health authority, for details.
Mr. William Powell : To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) whether the cross-border referral contracts
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between Leicester district health authority and Peterborough district health authority for 1991-92, in which Leicester is the purchaser, includes full provision for adult psychiatry patients referred by their general practitioner as (a) in-patients and (b) out- patients ;(2) whether the cross-boundary referral contracts between Leicester district health authority and Peterborough district health authority for 1991-92, in which Leicester district health authority is the purchaser, covers all areas of medical specialties ; and whether there have been any exclusions to such provision for (a) in-patients and (b) out-patients ;
(3) how he proposed to ensure that full and proper provision for adult psychiatry patients resident in Leicester district health authority and referred by their general practitioner to Peterborough district health authority will be provided in 1992-93 for (a) in-patients and (b) out- patients.
Mr. Dorrell : The information requested is not held centrally. The hon. Member may wish to contact Mr. N. Townsend, the chairman of Leicestershire health authority, for details.
Mrs. Fyfe : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the adequacy of health authority budgets for extra- contractual referrals.
Mr. Dorrell : All health authorities have reserves set aside for extra-contractual referrals based on information about patient flows. Evidence to date suggests that in the vast majority of authorities the reserves will prove sufficient.
Doctors and Nurses
Mr. Pawsey : To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many (a) doctors and (b) nurses are now employed in the National Health Service ; and how many there were in 1979.
Mrs. Virginia Bottomley : I will write to my hon. Friend.
Creutzfeldt Jakob Disease
Mr. Hinchliffe : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what links have been established between the virus causing bovine spongiform encephalomyelitis and the virus causing Creutzfeldt Jakob disease ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Dorrell : Although the agents responsible for Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease and bovine spongiform encephalopathy both belong to the unique group of agents that can cause transmissible and genetic neurodegenerative diseases, there is no evidence to suggest a link between CJD and BSE.
Mr. Hinchliffe : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what information he has available concerning the vectors for the virus causing Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease.
Mr. Dorrell : The infectious agent causing Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease has not been confirmed as a virus and its precise nature remains uncertain. The identified routes of transmission involve the use of human dura, corneal grafts or human growth hormone, and exposure to contaminated instruments during neurosurgical procedures. In the great majority of patients undergoing these procedures the risk
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of transmission is minimal. A number of research projects are in progress to investigate other reasons for the incidence of CJD. The Department has taken action to ensure that any potentially infected human tissue referred to is no longer used. The need for additional guidance for neurosurgeons and neuropathologists is being considered by the Advisory Committee on Dangerous Pathogens.Mr. Hinchliffe : To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) how many persons have died within the United Kingdom as a result of Creutzfeld Jakob disease ; and what is the average age at death ; (2) how many cases of Creutzfeld Jakob disease have been recorded in the United Kingdom annually since 1979.
Mr. Dorrell : I refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave to the hon. Member for South Shields (Dr. Clark) on 23 May at column 598 and the reply I gave to the hon. Member for Newcastle upon Tyne, Central (Mr. Cousins) on 15 July at column 68.
Of the 10 people who died in 1990 where Creutzfeld-Jakob disease has been confirmed, the average at death was 65.3 years.
Acute Beds, Newham
Mr. Leighton : To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many acute beds there were in the London borough of Newham (a) in 1979 and (b) at the latest available date.
Mr. Dorrell : In 1979 the average daily number of acute beds in NHS hospitals in the Newham health authority was 761 compared with a provisional figure of 415 in 1990-91. Bed numbers are no measure of the number of patients treated ; over the same period the number of in-patients and day cases treated increased by an average of 1.8 per cent. per annum.
Drugs Needles
Mr. David Marshall : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment his Department has made of the risks to animals arising out of contract with needles discarded by drug users, and subsequent risk to humans ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Dorrell : I will write to the hon. Member.
Small Businesses
Mr. Simon Coombs : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what is his Department's policy on the payment of invoices to small and medium- sized businesses.
Mr. Dorrell : We seek to pay promptly all suppliers of goods and services, in accordance with agreed settlement terms. We recognise that delays in the payment of bills can cause particular difficulties for small firms. We are monitoring our payment performance in this financial year and will be issuing a guidance manual later this year which will remind staff of the need to adhere to the guidelines particularly when dealing with small firms.
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Chromium
Mr. Redmond : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list by (a) year and (b) regional health authority for the last five years, the number of cases of (i) chromium poisoning and (ii) chromium contamination that have been reported.
Mr. Dorrell : These figures have been collected in full only since 1989-90 and are not disaggregated by regional health authority. In that year there was one hospital admission in England for which the primary cause was described as chromium poisoning.
Newham Health Authority
Mr. Leighton : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what is the complement of staff in various grades in the Newham health authority ; and how many staff are in post.
Mrs. Virginia Bottomley : Information held centrally relates only to staff in post by main staff group and the most recent figures held are shown in the table.
NHS non-medical staff in post by
main staff groups at 30 September 1990
Newham district health authority
Staff groups |Whole-time equivalents<1>
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Medical and dental staff |110
Nursing and midwifery (including Agency) |1,290
Professional and technical (excluding Works) |110
Professions allied to medicine |100
Scientific and professional |40
Works |10
Maintenance |50
Administrative and clerical |460
Managers |40
Ambulance |-
Ancillary |250
|-------
Total staff |2,460
<1> Rounded to the nearest 10.
Source: Department of Health (SMI 3) annual census.
Patient Statistics
Mr. Pawsey : To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many (a) in-patients and (b) out-patients were treated in the national health service for the last year that figures are available ; and what were the comparable figures in 1979.
Mr. Dorrell : The available information is given in the table.
Number of in-patients and out-patients treated
in National Health Service hospitals in England
In-patients Out-patients
Year |Discharges |Finished
|and |consultant
|deaths |episodes<1>
----------------------------------------------------------------------
1979 |5,400,120 |- |34,089,725
1988-89 |6,585,982 |7,335,448 |36,061,032
1990-91 |- |<2>7,524,192 |<2>36,058,803
<1>Includes well babies.
<2>Provisional.
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Hospitality Costs
Mr. Skinner : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what is the latest annual figure for the cost of hospitality provided by the Department of Health ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Dorrell : I refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave to the hon. Member for Don Valley (Mr. Redmond) on 13 June 1991, at column 640 . Expenditure by the Department on hospitality in the first four months of 1991-92, the latest available information, was approximately £44,000.
Health Service Expenditure
Mr. Knox : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what proportion of the gross national product was spent on the national health service in each of the last 25 years.
Mr. Dorrell : The table shows the percentage of gross domestic product spent on the NHS. GDP has been used in this presentation rather than gross national product for the sake of consistency with other sources of information on public spending such as the autumn statement and the Budget report.
Total Government expenditure on
health as a proportion of GDP
|Percentage
---------------------------------
1966 |3.39
1967 |3.56
1968 |3.56
1969 |3.55
1970 |3.73
1971 |3.81
1972 |3.93
1973 |3.85
1974 |4.70
1975 |5.07
1976 |5.07
1977 |4.88
1978 |4.86
1979 |4.77
1980 |5.16
1981 |5.39
1982 |5.19
1983 |5.38
1984 |5.32
1985 |5.19
1986 |5.19
1987 |5.17
1988 |5.14
1989 |5.13
1990 |5.22
It is estimated that in 1991-92 Government expenditure on health as a proportion of GDP will be 5.7 per cent.
Residential Care Homes
Mr. Allen : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security further to his reply of 21 February, Official Report, column 261, if he will list the amount of money given to each local authority in order to place people in private residential care homes to meet the full fees or the shortfall in fees.
Mrs. Virginia Bottomley : I have been asked to reply.
Local authorities may choose to provide residential care in their own homes or by arranging places in independent sector homes. They also have the discretion to provide financial support for people under pension age in independent sector homes.
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Central Government do not specify in detail how local authorities should allocate the overall resources available to them but rather indicate their view of appropriate spending through standard spending control totals. The total covering personal social services, including specific grants, is £4,503 million for 1991-92, an increase of 23.4 per cent. over the equivalent figure for 1990-91. Information about personal social services standard spending assessments by individual local authority is given in the Department of the Environment's standard spending assessment handbook for 1991-92, a copy of which is in the Library.Free Tests
Mr. Ken Hargreaves : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he has any plans to extend the provisions for specific groups of people to receive free national health service tests ; and if he will make a statement.
Mrs. Virginia Bottomley : There are no plans to do so.
NHS Contracts
Mr. Redmond : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list the contracts for hospital and health services awarded so far under the competitive tendering process, by Doncaster Royal infirmary and Mexborough Montagu hospital trust ; and if he will list in each case the successful tenderer, the value of the contract, and its duration.
Mrs. Virginia Bottomley : This information is not collected centrally. The hon. Member may wish to contact Mr. Christopher Bryant, the chairman of the trust for details.
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