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Dentists

Sir John Wheeler : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what was the average income of an NHS dentist, net of expenses, in the Kensington and Chelsea and Westminster family health services authority area.

Dr. Mawhinney : Information about dentists' net remuneration for particular family health services authority areas is not available centrally.

Eye Tests

Mr. Gerrard : To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many eye tests were carried out in the London borough of Waltham Forest in each year since 1987.

Dr. Mawhinney : Figures are not available in respect of London boroughs. The numbers of NHS sight tests paid for in each financial year by the Redbridge and Waltham Forest family health services authority are shown in the table. The Department does not collect information on the volume of private sight tests carried out.

------------------------------

1987-88   |111,070            

1988-89   |118,100            

1989-90   |<1>54,960          

1990-91   |43,070             

<1>It is estimated that there 

were 23,530 tests carried out 

before 1 April 1989-when NHS  

sight tests were restricted   

to certain groups in the      

population-for which payment  

was not made until the        

1989-90 financial year. The   

remaining 31,430 paid for in  

1989-90 do not represent a    

full year under the new       

system, because of the delay  

in payments.                  

Nicotine Patches

Mr. Roy Hughes : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will authorise the supply of nicotine patches for the treatment of smoking under the national health service.

Mr. Flynn : To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether she has any plans to make nicotine plaster patches available by prescription under the NHS.

Dr. Mawhinney : The supply of nicotine patches on prescription is currently being considered by the Advisory Committee on Borderline Substances.

Abortion

Mrs. Ann Winterton : To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether she will make it her policy to ensure that women considering abortions have the option of access to ultrasound scanning facilities to enable them more fully to understand the nature of the operation about which they are being counselled ; and to ensure that the existence of such an option is explained to them.

Mr. Sackville : The decision as to whether an ultrasound scan should be used in any particular case is a matter for the clinical judgment of the doctor concerned. Counselling should include the provision of any information the woman may wish to have about her condition or the operation being contemplated.

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Column 675

Mrs. Ann Winterton : To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many women normally resident overseas visited the United Kingdom for abortions in the latest year for which figures are available ; and what information she has on the total level of fees which was thus generated.

Mr. Sackville : In the period 1 October 1990 to 30 September 1991, 11,552 non-residents had abortions in England, Wales and Scotland. Fees paid will vary according to gestation, any complications and length of stay. The total is not known centrally.

Mrs. Ann Winterton : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will list the names and addresses of all those private clinics which are licensed by her Department for the performing of abortions, indicating where appropriate those which have special arrangements for late abortions, and giving the most recent two dates upon which an unannounced visit was made by officials representing her Department to each of those clinics to inspect their facilities and the service which they provided.

Mr. Sackville : I refer my hon. Friend to the reply that my right hon. Friend the then Minister for Health gave to my hon. Friend the Member for Billericay (Mrs. Gorman) on 3 February at columns 86-89. Those private sector places approved to perform abortions over 20 and up to 24 weeks with dates of the last two visits by Department of Health officials are :

Approved place                         |Date of last two                     

                                       |visits                               

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Robert clinic, Birmingham              |July 1991 and                        

                                       |January 1992                         

Leigham clinic, London                 |October 1991 and                     

                                       |March 1992                           

Rosslyn nursing home, East Twickenham, |October 1991 and                     

   Middlesex                           |February 1992                        

Wistons nursing home, Brighton         |September 1991 and                   

                                       |November 1991                        

Raleigh nursing home, London           |March 1992 and                       

                                       |May 1992                             

Parkview clinic, London                |December 1991 and                    

                                       |May 1992                             

Mrs. Ann Winterton : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what is the total number of abortions performed under the terms of the Abortion Act 1967, in NHS facilities or in private clinics but at a cost to the NHS, in the latest year for which figures are available ; what was the average cost of each of those abortions to the national health service ; what is the resultant total cost of abortions to the NHS in that year ; and whether these estimates include the cost of treating those patients who suffer adverse physical or mental reactions as a result of the abortion.

Mr. Sackville : The total number of abortions in England, Wales and Scotland performed under the National Health Service in 1990, either in NHS hospitals or through arrangements between NHS authorities and the private sector, was 93,212. The cost of an abortion varies according to gestation, any complications and length of stay. The average cost of a straightforward in-patient abortion in an NHS hospital is £270 at 1990-91 prices. This figure does not include the cost of any subsequent patient care.

Mrs. Ann Winterton : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what has been the total number of abortions

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Column 676

performed under the Abortion Act 1967 since its implementation ; and how many and what percentage of these abortions were performed (a) in respect of babies conceived as the result of rape and (b) under the social clause, ground II.

Mr. Sackville : A total of 3,688,096 abortions have been performed in Great Britain under the Abortion Act 1967 since its

implementation. (This covers the period from the time when the Act came into force on 27 April 1968 until 30 September 1991, the latest date for which figures are available). Of these, 3,154,637 (85.5 per cent.) were performed on the ground that

"the continuance of the pregnancy would involve risk of injury to the physical or mental health of the pregnant woman greater than if the pregnancy were terminated."

The remaining information requested is not available in the precise form specified. As rape is not in itself a statutory ground for performing an abortion under the 1967 Act, and is not required to be specified on the notification form by the certifying doctor, the exact number of notifications of abortions associated with rape is not known. However, in some cases the information is volunteered, and arrangements have been made to code separately and analyse all notification forms which mention rape from 1987 in Great Britain. Of the 912,546 notifications received from the period 1987 to 30 September 1991 for abortions performed in Great Britain, 191 (0.02 per cent.) mentioned rape. Earlier, but non-comparable, data relating to abortions performed in England and Wales were collected clerically and published for the years 1968-73, in table 12 of the Registrar General's "Statistical Review, Supplement on Abortion", a copy of which is in the Library. The reliability of these earlier data is uncertain.

Dentists' Pay

Mr. David Porter : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will make it her policy to delay the implementation of the 1992-93 dentists' remuneration from 8 July to a date later in the year to allow the fundamental review of dentists' remuneration to be finalised ; and if she will make a statement.

Dr. Mawhinney : It would not be helpful to delay the implementation of a revised fee scale beyond July. In 1991-92, dentists received on average some £12,000 more than the level of pay agreed by the Government following the recommendation of the Review Body on Doctors' and Dentists' Remuneration (DDRB). The evidence suggests that the existing fee scale is continuing to provide substantially more than the DDRB recommended.

In 1992-93, even with the 7 per cent. fee reduction proposed, the average dentist is likely to receive some £5,000 more than the DDRB recommendation of £35,815. This proposal is fair to dentists, fair to their patients, the tax-payers, and fair to other national health service staff.

Dental remuneration is a complex, sensitive and important issue. We are looking to the review to develop a system which more effectively and more fairly remunerates all dentists for the important work they do.

Peto Institute

Mr. Morgan : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what progress has been made with the undertaking to contribute towards the development of the International

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Column 677

Peto Institute in Budapest ; whether other OECD countries have contributed ; how much of the United Kingdom Government grant has been spent ; if she will list the principal elements of the new Institute which have already been paid for, and which will be paid for in the remainder of this financial year ; and if she will make a statement.

Mr. Yeo : The United Kingdom Government have undertaken to contribute £5 million towards the costs of establishing the International Peto Institute in Budapest, which will provide conductive education for children with physical disabilities and training in conductive education. We are not aware that other OECD countries have contributed. The United Kingdom Government have made an initial payment of £1,750,000. Our agreement with the Hungarian Government provides that subsequent payments will be dependent upon progress with construction.

DUCHY OF LANCASTER

Agencies

Mr. McAllion : To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster which of the agencies established to date are run on a trading fund basis ; which are subject to gross running costs control ; and which are subject to net running cost control.

Mr. Portillo : I have been asked to reply.

The following agencies operate as trading funds :

Central Office of Information

Companies House

Fire Service College

HMSO

Patent Office

Royal Mint

The Buying Agency

Vehicle Inspectorate

The following agencies operate under net running cost control : Accounts Services Agency

ADAS Agency

Building Research Establishment

Central Veterinary Laboratory

Civil Service College

DVOIT

Historic Royal Palaces

Laboratory of the Government Chemist

Land Registry

Medicines Control Agency

National Engineering Laboratory

National Physical Laboratory

Natural Resources Institute

Ordnance Survey

Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre

Radiocommunications Agency

Registers of Scotland

Transport Research Laboratory

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Column 678

Valuation Office

Vehicle Certification Agency

Warren Spring Laboratory

Wilton Park Conference Centre

The following agencies operate under gross running cost control : Cadw (Welsh Historic Monuments)

Central Science Laboratory

Central Statistical Office

Chemical and Biological Defence Establishment

Compensation Agency

Defence Research Agency

Directorate General of Defence Accounts

Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency

Driver and Vehicle Testing Agency

Driving Standards Agency

Duke of York's Royal Military School

Employment Service

Forensic Science Service

Historic Scotland

Hydrographic Office

Insolvency Service

Intervention Board

Meteorological Office

Military Survey

National Weights and Measures Laboratory

Naval Aircraft Repair Organisation

NHS Estates

Occupational Health Service

Ordnance Survey of Northern Ireland

Planning Inspectorate

Public Record Office

Queen Victoria School

RAF Maintenance

Rate Collection Agency

Recruitment and Assessment Services Agency

Scottish Agricultural Science Agency

Scottish Fisheries Protection Agency

Service Children's School (North West Europe)

Social Security Agency

Social Security Benefits Agency

Social Security Contributions Agency

Social Security Information Technology Services Agency Social Security Resettlement Agency

Teachers' Pensions Agency

Training and Employment Agency

United Kingdom Passport Agency

Veterinary Medicines Directorate

Defence Support Agency.

Customs and Excise and Inland Revenue (excluding the Valuation Office) are departments operating fully on Next Steps lines with 30 executive units and 34 executive offices respectively. Gross control of running costs applies to both departments except in the case of Inland Revenue's Valuation Office which, as shown, operates as a free standing agency under net control.

A few agencies, such as the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency, shown as operating under gross control, have limited freedom to utilise income to meet expenditure subject to guidelines agreed with the parent Department and the Treasury.

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