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Column 569
South OxfordshireThe Wrekin
Torbay
Tynedale
Waverley
West Devon
Of the local authorities listed, Wandsworth and Redbridge did provide details of households in temporary accommondation. Late returns have since been received from Allerdale, Cambridge, East Hertfordshire, Torbay and West Devon.
I welcome this opportunity to thank authorities for their improved response to the homelessness return over the last year. I particularly commend the inner London boroughs which have made the effort to send more timely returns, despite the large volume of applications they have to deal with.
I hope that this improved response will be maintained and that other authorities will be able to provide their returns more promptly in future so that we can more accurately monitor the number of households who have to seek priority rehousing from local authorities. This is particularly important at a time when we will be watching to see whether the downward trend in homeless acceptances which emerged in 1992 is maintained in 1993.
Plymouth Development Corporation
Mr. Barry Field : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he is yet in a position to announce who he will be appointing as chairman and members to the board of the Plymouth development corporation.
Mr. Redwood : Subject to the approval of Parliament to the establishment of the Plymouth urban development corporation, I have decided to appoint Vice Admiral Sir Robert Gerken KCB, CBE to the chairman of the Corporation. Sir Robert is a past flag officer Plymouth and lives in the city.
The board will have nine other members. Councillor John Ingham, leader of Plymouth city council, is to be the deputy chairman. Three other members of the board will represent the city council--Tom Savery, leader of the Conservative group, and councillors Tudor Evans and Jean Melder. Simon Day, leader of Devon county council, will also be on the board.
I have also decided to appoint Mr. Jonathan Harris FRICS, chairman and managing director of the Carlisle Group plc. The remaining appointments will be announced shortly.
East Thames Corridor
Mr. Vaz : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what plans he has to set up a task force to oversee development of the east Thames corridor ; and what area will be covered by the development plans.
Mr. Baldry : An announcement will be made on this very shortly, following which I will write to the hon. Member.
Mr. Evennett : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what progress has been made in producing the revised regional planning guidance for the south-east and proposals for the east Thames corridor.
Mr. Howard : The new draft regional planning guidance for the south- east, a report by consultants Llewelyn Davies
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on the development potential of the east Thames corridor and a consultation paper on the Government's approach to that area's development will be published tomorrow at 10 am. Copies of these documents will be placed in the Vote Office and the Library at that time. The guidance will aim to meet the development requirements of the recovering economy in the south-east and the housing needs of its people for the period up to 2011, while responding to the range of environmental concerns and opportunities. It will emphasise the need for development to continue to take place throughout the region but recognise that in the medium to longer-term development opportunities in the eastern parts of the region, particularly the east Thames corridor, will have an increasingly important part to play. The consultation paper on the east Thames corridor will set out reactions to the consultants' findings and proposals for a task force to consider the future planning of that area.Earnings
Mr. Alton : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment by what amount would a couple with earnings of £70 a week, with two children, paying £30 a week rent and £10.54 in council tax, need to increase their earnings to secure an additional take-home pay of £4.42 per week.
Mr. Burt : I have been asked to reply.
A couple with two children, paying £30 a week rent and with earnings of £70 per week, would be entitled to family credit of £61.18. In order to secure an additional take-home pay of £4.42 a week they would need to increase their earnings by £5.09 a week. This assumes that the question refers to a community charge of £10.54, which is the correct amount in the circumstances described, rather than council tax which does not take effect until April 1993.
Renewable Energy
Mrs. Bridget Prentice : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment to what extent the Government are committed to developing renewable energy sources as a means of limiting environmental destruction and pollution ; how much money has been invested in renewable energy research for each year from 1985 to 1992 ; what plans he has to reduce Britain's dependency on, and consumption of, oil ; and what plans the Government have drawn up to limit the amount of environmental damage caused by the drilling and transportation of oil.
Mr. Eggar : I have been asked to reply.
The Government are committed to the development of sources of renewable energy with prospects of being economically attractive, and environmentally acceptable. My Department has invested the following amounts on research, development, and demonstration as part of its programme on renewables.
Financial year |Outturn (£ million) ------------------------------------------------------------ 1985-86 |13.2 1986-87 |12.0 1987-88 |16.3 1988-89 |16.0 1989-90 |17.9 1990-91 |20.8 1991-92 |24.6
The renewables orders under the non fossil fuel obligation have resulted in contracts being signed for 600 MW of plant so far. The Government also continue to promote cost-effective energy efficiency measures which reduce the demand for fuel and emissions associated with their use.
The Government are fully committed to meeting their obligations on reducing pollution from offshore oil and gas activities. These obligations stem from agreements reached within the Paris Commission. Concerning the transportation of oil, in addition to the Department of Transport inquiry into the loss of Braer, the Government have announced a second inquiry, chaired by Lord Donaldson, to consider whether any further measures are appropriate and feasible to protect the United Kingdom coastline from pollution due to merchant shipping.
HEALTH
Prescriptions
13. Mr. Martyn Jones : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what is the average total cost of a prescribed item now ; and what was the average cost in 1979.
Dr. Mawhinney : The estimated average total cost of a prescribed item to the national health service in England for 1993-94 is £7.95. In 1979 it was £2.42.
26. Mr. Barry Jones : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what has been the percentage rise in the cost of a prescription since 1979.
Dr. Mawhinney : On 1 April 1993, 757 per cent. in real terms. The charge remains substantially less than the average total cost of a prescribed item to the national health service. Only one in five prescribed items dispensed by community pharmacists and appliances contractors now attracts a charge, compared with two in five in 1979.
GP Fund Holders
Mr. Peter Atkinson : To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many general practitioner fund holders are due to start operating in April ; and if she will make a statement.
Dr. Mawhinney : Around 600 further practices are expected to join the scheme from 1 April, when one in four of the population will be covered by the scheme.
21. Mr. Wray : To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many general practitioners currently have fund-holding status ; how many more have applied ; and what is the number of practices which neither have nor have applied for fund-holding status.
Dr. Mawhinney : Over 3,000 general practitioners in 585 practices are now fund holders. Around 600 more practices are expected to join the scheme from 1 April. The figure for the number of applications made for fund-holding status is not held centrally.
Ms Lynne : To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what guidelines she issues to general practitioner fund holders about the registration of people with disabilities ;
(2) what representations she has had from disability support groups about discrimination in registering people with disabilities by general practitioner fund holders.
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Dr. Mawhinney : An allegation of discrimination has been drawn to my attention by a local disability group. I understand that the issue has now been resolved. General practitioners have always had the right to decide whether or not to accept a patient on to their lists. We have now given patients the right to register with any doctor of their choice, who is willing to accept them. We endorse the advice issued by the General Medical Council that it is unacceptable to discriminate against patients on any grounds.
Fund-holding GPs have no financial reason to refuse to accept patients. The level of funding is set individually for each practice and takes into account factors such as the number of chronically sick and disabled people and other potentially "high-cost" patients. In addition, regions hold contingency reserves to meet any unforeseeable changes, such as an increase in the number of patients requiring high-cost treatment.
Community Care
15. Mrs. Browning : To ask the Secretary of State for Health how she intends to ensure that there is a wide diversity of provision of community care services.
Mr. Yeo : We have always made clear our commitment to a real choice of services for users and a mixed economy of care. We have reinforced this with initiatives such as the statutory direction on choice, giving people the right to enter the home they prefer, the conditions attached to the special transitional grant--which will mean that most of the funding for community care services will be spent in the independent sector--and the establishment of a users' and carers' group to provide direct feedback to Ministers.
Tomlinson Report
16. Dr. Goodson-Wickes : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment she has made of the accident and emergency services for London, following the Government's decision on the Tomlinson report.
Mr. Sackville : We announced our policy for London after fully considering the evidence on accident and emergency services, both in the Tomlinson report and in other studies. We will consult on the specific changes we have outlined in the policy document "Making London Better". Good emergency services for the full range of cases will continue to be available.
Health Helpline
17. Mrs. Angela Knight : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment has been made of the effect of the health helpline for patients.
Mr. Sackville : As a direct result of the national launch all regions have reported a fourfold increase in the number of inquiries dealt with by their helpline to over 17,000 calls in the first month since the launch.
The vast majority of callers to the service have expressed support for the health line and all regions report that they are beginning to receive repeat inquiries and calls from new users who have had the service recommended to them by satisfied customers.
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Residential Care
19. Mr. Bowden : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps his Department is taking to encourage local authority associations to meet service providers to develop common forms of contract for residential care.
Mr. Yeo : We have already encouraged the local authority associations and representatives of service providers to establish forums where this kind of issue can be discussed. The Department would be happy to offer further assistance should all concerned find that helpful.
Health Promotion Clinics
20. Mr. Simpson : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will make a statement on the future of services provided in health promotion clinics.
Dr. Mawhinney : From 1 July 1993 payments to general practitioners for health promotion clinics will be replaced by annual payments for structured health promotion programmes, which could include clinics, concentrating, in the first instance, on reduction of smoking, coronary heart disease and stroke.
There will also be separate payment for chronic disease management programmes for asthma and diabetes, and a two-year transitional scheme to help protect existing activity outside the scope of the new programmes.
Cumberland Infirmary
22. Mr. Martlew : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what representations she has received with regard to the delay in the construction of stage two of the Cumberland infirmary.
Mr. Sackville : No such representations have been received.
NHS Trusts
23. Mr. Simon Coombs : To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many national health service trusts are due to start in the Wessex region in April ; and if she will make a statement.
Dr. Mawhinney : From 1 April 1993 10 units will become operational as national health service trusts in Wessex. This will bring the total number of trusts in the region to 22.
28. Mr. Garnier : To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many NHS trusts are due to start work in the Trent region in April ; and if she will make a statement.
Dr. Mawhinney : From 1 April 1993 16 units will become operational as national health service trusts in Trent. This will bring the total number of NHS trusts in the region to 29.
Amenity Beds
24. Mr. Willetts : To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many amenity beds there are in the NHS ; and what annual revenues they yield.
Mr. Sackville : There were 2,956 amenity beds in England in 1990-91. The associated annual revenue was £1.3 million.
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Priority Patients
25. Mrs. Helen Jackson : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what additional resources will be made available to health authorities to allow them to ensure that no patients are kept waiting for treatment until the new financial year if they are in priority need.
Mr. Sackville : The Government have invested an additional £2.5 billion in the national health service this year and patients who require urgent treatment will be given proper priority. The Government also plan to invest a further £1 billion for 1993-94 which could enable a further 190,000 more in and day patients to be treated.
Maternity Units
27. Mr. Trimble : To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many maternity units had (a) fewer than 1,000 births and (b) between 1,000 and 1,500 births in 1992.
Mr. Sackville : The information requested is not yet available. We hope that it will be available in May.
Natural Medicines
Mr. Colvin : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what amount of funds is being made available for research into the role of natural medicines into the key areas identified by the White Paper for priority action.
Mr. Sackville : Neither natural therapies nor natural medicines have been separately identified for research funding in relation to the "Health of the Nation" strategy.
Publication of Accounts
Mr. Redmond : To ask the Secretary of State for Health on what date the accounts of health authorities and health trusts for 1991-92 became available for publication.
Mr. Sackville : Each national health service trust is required to hold a public meeting by 30 September at which its annual report and accounts and any audit report on the accounts are presented. Health authorities are not obliged to publish their annual accounts individually, but are encouraged to prepare annual reports to meet local accountability requirements. After they have been audited the accounts of individual health authorities and NHS trusts are in the public domain and we would expect those bodies to make copies available on request.
The Department of Health summarises the accounts of health authorities, family health services authorities and NHS trusts in England and submits them to the Comptroller and Auditor General by 30 November each year. After audit the summarised accounts are presented to Parliament and subsequently published.
Suppliers' Bills
Dr. Twinn : To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if she will require health authorities and NHS trusts to declare in their annual reports how quickly they pay their suppliers' bills ; and if she will make a statement.
Mr. Sackville : No. All national health service bodies are currently expected to pay their suppliers in accordance with contractual terms and sensible practice. Any changes to the present range of disclosures required in statutory company accounts would be adopted.
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AIDS (Medical Staff)
Mr. Thurnham : To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to her oral answer of 11 March, Official Report, column 1107, to the hon. Member for Sheffield, Brightside, if she will carry out a full review of the recent AIDS doctor case in Bolton ; if she will make it her policy to review the existing guidelines so as to allow doctors' names to be published and to establish a duty on health workers to report known AIDS cases among colleagues ; and if she will make a statement.
Dr. Mawhinney : The Department is reviewing guidance in the light of the recent HIV/AIDS cases among health care workers, including the Bolton doctor.
Health care workers have the same rights to medical confidentiality as any patient. Health care workers also have an ethical duty not to place their patients at risk. If they undertake invasive procedures and suspect or know that they are HIV positive, they must remain under close medical supervision and obtain occupational advice on the possible need to alter their practices. If physicians are aware that an infected health care worker under their care has not followed advice to modify their practice, they must inform the relevant authority. Forthcoming departmental guidance on the management of infected health care workers will clarify advice on confidentiality.
Food Poisoning
Mrs. Dunwoody : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what research has been done into the link between plated food served in hotels and botulism and food poisoning generally.
Mr. Sackville : The Department of Health is presently funding two projects specifically related to the organism responsible for botulism.
The first project, funded at the Institute of Food Research, Norwich, looks at the factors affecting the heat resistance of spores of non-proteolytic strains--those capable of growth and toxin production at low temperatures-- of Clostridium botulinum and the effect of preservation conditions on heat- damaged spores. The second project, funded at the Campden Food and Drink Research Association, seeks to determine the growth potential of Clostridium botulinum non-proteolytic types B and E following heat treatment in foods containing lysozyme--a naturally occurring substance which can protect Clostridium botulinum spores.
Ambulance Service
Mr. Blunkett : To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many ambulance services are failing to meet the maximum response times set by the patients charter ; and what action she is taking to improve response times.
Mr. Sackville : In 1991-92, the latest year for which information is available and before the patients charter was published, 20 ambulance authorities in England failed to achieve the standards set out in the patients charter for responding to calls. Under the national health service internal market it is for purchasers of services to set the standards required of service providers. This should ensure continued improvement in the standards met by ambulance authorities. The Government are concerned to
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see the charter standards achieved and we are monitoring closely ambulance authorities which still need to improve performance.Stillbirth
Mrs. Wise : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will outline the definition of stillbirth used by (a) the World Health Organisation and (b) other major developed countries.
Mr. Sackville : The World Health Organisation does not suggest a definition of stillbirth, but does define fetal death, which would include stillbirths. This and further information about statistical data can be found in the WHO publication "International Statistics Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems, Tenth Revision, Volume 1, 1992." A copy is available in the Library. Copies of relevant pages from a publication by the Institut de Demographie--"Are Live and Stillbirths Comparable All Over Europe ?," Working Paper 170, University of Louvain, January 1993--are also in the Library. Copies of the working paper are being obtained and one will be placed in the Library. This extract gives the legal criteria for registration of stillbirths in European countries at 1 January 1991. The entry for England and Wales show the age of gestation as 28 weeks. This was reduced to 24 weeks by the Stillbirth (Definition) Act 1992 which took effect on 1 October 1992.
Pharmacies
Mrs. Lait : To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many appeals against a family health service authority refusal to enter into a contract with a pharmacy for the dispensing of NHS prescriptions have been heard in the last year for which figures are available.
Dr. Mawhinney : For the year ending 31 March 1992, 37 appeals were made and heard against family health service authority refusal to award a contract to dispense national health service prescriptions.
Administrative Headquarters, Leeds
Mr. Gordon Prentice : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will make a statement on the arrangements for recruiting personnel to work at the new administrative headquarters in Leeds.
Mr. Sackville : The new administrative headquarters in Leeds has been staffed mainly with existing civil servants, many of whom relocated to Leeds with their jobs. Clerical and secretarial posts have been filled successfully through local recruitment exercises.
Tranquillisers
Mr. Ieuan Wyn Jones : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what information campaigns have been launched by her Department in the last year on issues relating to tranquilliser addiction.
Dr. Mawhinney : The booklet "Drugs--A Parent's Guide", promoted by the Department's national anti-drug publicity campaign launched in March 1992, contains information on tranquilliser use and misuse.
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Physiotherapists
Mr. Ieuan Wyn Jones : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will make it her policy to extend the provisions of the Opportunity 2000 initiative to the national health service to cover physiotherapists.
Mr. Sackville : The Opportunity 2000 initiative applies to all occupational groups.
NHS Vacant Properties
Mr. Hendry : To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many vacant residential properties are owned by each regional health authority ; what are her Department's plans for reducing this number ; and if she will make a statement.
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Mr. Sackville : This information is not available centrally. From a recent survey we estimate that across the national health service 1, 800 residential properties are vacant. This figure excludes places in hostels for nurses and other staff.
In conjunction with the task force on Government Departments' empty homes, we are considering measures to bring more of these empty properties back into use.
Consultants (Merit Awards)
Dr. Goodson-Wickes : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what were the grades of merit awards granted to consultants in the National Health Service in 1991-92, categorised by region and specialty.
Dr. Mawhinney : The information is shown in the table.
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Awards granted 1992 by speciality within region A+ awards
A+ awards Region
Speciality |Northern |Yorkshire |Trent |East Anglia |North West Thames|North East Thames|South East Thames|South West Thames
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Accident and Emergency |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |-
Anaesthetics |- |1 |1 |- |- |1 |- |-
Cardiology |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |-
Thoracic Surgery |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |-
CNP |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |-
Dentistry |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |1
Dermatology |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |-
Chest Medicine |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |-
General Medicine |1 |- |1 |- |1 |1 |2 |-
General Surgery |- |- |- |- |- |- |2 |1
Gum |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |-
Geriatric Medicine |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |-
Infectious Diseases |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |-
Mental Health |- |1 |- |- |1 |- |- |-
Neurology |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |-
Neurosurgery |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |-
Nuclear Medicine |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |-
Obstetrics and Gynaecology |- |- |- |- |- |- |1 |-
Occupational Medicine |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |-
Ophthalmology |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |-
Orthopaedics |- |- |- |- |- |1 |- |-
Otolaryngology |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |-
Paediatrics |- |- |- |- |- |- |1 |-
Paediatric Surgery |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |-
Pathology |- |- |- |- |- |- |2 |1
Public Health Medicine |- |- |1 |- |- |- |- |-
Plastic Surgery |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |-
Radiology |- |1 |- |- |- |- |1 |-
Radiotherapy |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |-
Rheumatology |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |-
|--- |--- |--- |--- |--- |--- |--- |---
Total Number |1 |3 |3 |- |2 |3 |9 |3
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