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Ms Primarolo : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what guidance has been issued by her Department in relation to children's footwear.
Mr. Sackville : The Health Education Authority's publication "Birth to Five", copies of which are available in the Library, includes a section on feet and first shoes. The book is given free to all first-time mothers in England.
Geriatric Care
Ms Primarolo : To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what are the latest available figures for the numbers of geriatric (a) units, (b) beds and (c) consultants ;
(2) what plans she has to increase the number of geriatric units, beds and consultants.
Mr. Bowis : The provision of such facilities and services are a matter for local health authorities who have the responsibility for assessing and meeting local health needs.
Specialist Consultants
Ms Primarolo : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment she has made of the correlation between the degree of specialisation of consultants and the levels of morbidity and mortality in their patients following treatment.
Mr. Sackville : Confidential audit work supported by the Department of Health, and international studies, indicate that consultants with specialist skills and experience achieve better outcomes, bearing in mind that specialised consultants may need to deal with more complex problems.
Breast Screening
Mr. Blunkett : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will list for each year since 1989-90 the percentage of women invited for breast screening who attended, by regional health authority.
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Mr. Sackville : The breast screening programme is achieving its average uptake target rate of 70 per cent. We do not have central statistics for 1990-91 but unvalidated data are available from the national health service breast screening programme. Validated central figures are currently available only for the year 1991-92. Both are shown in the table.
Percentage uptake
rate
Regional Health |1990-91 |1991-92
Authority
------------------------------------------------------------------
England |71 |71
Northern |75 |75
Yorkshire |68 |74
Trent |76 |77
East Anglian |74 |81
North West Thames |60 |58
North East Thames |60 |61
South East Thames |70 |71
South West Thames |70 |67
Wessex |76 |78
Oxford |81 |77
South Western |69 |74
West Midlands |69 |72
Mersey |73 |69
North Western |74 |73
Health Authorities
Mr. Mackinlay : To ask the Secretary of State for Health which health authorities and trusts have chief executives who are foreign nationals.
Dr. Mawhinney : This information is not available centrally.
Suicides
Ms Primarolo : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what targets she has set to decrease the suicide rate.
Mr. Bowis : I refer the hon. Member to "The Health of the Nation, A Strategy for Health in England", Cm 1986, published in July 1992.
Perioperative Death
Ms Primarolo : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans she has to ensure that all consultants who could take part in the national confidential inquiry into perioperative death are required to do so.
Mr. Sackville : We strongly support the participation of all clinicians in medical audit and in national confidential inquiries, but to be effective we believe that this must be done on a voluntary basis. All surgeons and anaesthetists are encouraged by their respective royal colleges to take part in the national confidential inquiry into perioperative deaths.
Physicians
Ms Primarolo : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what is the latest figure for the number of practising physicians per 1,000 of population in each EC country.
Dr. Mawhinney : As at 30 September 1992, there were 1.6 practising physicians per 1,000 of population in England. Information relating to Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland are matters for my right hon. Friends the
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Secretaries of State for Wales and Scotland and my right hon. and learned Friend the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland. Equivalent information for other European Community countries is not available.Consultants' Hours
Ms Primarolo : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what are the latest figures available for the number of hours consultants worked per week, on their feet, on call and total.
Dr. Mawhinney : This information is not available centrally.
NHS Charges
Ms Primarolo : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will list all the items for which recipients are charged in the NHS and give the amounts raised in each category.
Dr. Mawhinney : The available information is shown in the table.
Charged National Health Service items and revenue from charges in
England 1992-93
Service |Charge Revenue
|(£ million)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Family Health Services Prescriptions |242.0
Family Health Services Dental Treatment |394.8
All NHS sight tests are free of charge. People who are entitled to help with the cost of spectacles receive this in the form of a spectacle voucher ; the sale of spectacles is always a private transaction between patient and practitioner, even when an NHS voucher is used. Information about hospital prescriptions, the hospital eye service, and hospital orthotic services is not available centrally.
Hepatitis B
Mr. Redmond : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what have been the results of her Department's investigations into the case of a young mother who contracted hepatitis B while undergoing a caesarian operation at Whipps Cross hospital, Leyton ; and if she will make a statement.
Mr. Sackville : An investigation is being carried out jointly by Forest healthcare national health service trust and Redbridge and Waltham Forest health authority with advice from the communicable disease surveillance centre. The hon. Member may wish to contact Lord Jenkin of Roding, the trust chairman, for details.
NHS Trusts
Mr. Milburn : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will list the turnover of each NHS trust.
Dr. Mawhinney : The total income of first and second wave trusts in England for 1992-93 will be placed in the Library.
Mr. Milburn : To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) how the start-up grant for NHS trusts is calculated ;
(2) what guidance she has issued to shadow NHS trusts on the use of their start-up grants.
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Dr. Mawhinney : The amount allocated for top-sliced funding to meet start-up costs is divided on an equal basis between successful trusts in each wave. The uses towards which start-up costs may be put are set out in letters from the national health service management executive notifying the shadow trust of the amount to be allocated.
Mr. Milburn : To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many trusts (a) met and (b) failed to achieve a 6 per cent. return on assets.
Dr. Mawhinney : According to 1992-93 annual accounts 106 national health service trusts have made a pre-interest rate of return of 6 per cent. or greater. Fifty
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NHS trusts have made a pre-interest rate of return of less than 6 per cent. The rate of return is calculated as the percentage that operating surplus bears to the average relevant net assets.NHS Staff
Mr. Milburn : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will list the number of NHS staff employed in each region for each of the last four years.
Dr. Mawhinney : The requested information is shown in the table.
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National health service staff employed in each region (
whole-time equivalents)
|1989 |1990 |1991 |1992
----------------------------------------------------------
Northern |53,610 |52,970 |53,110 |51,800
Yorkshire |58,060 |58,320 |58,470 |57,800
Trent |75,280 |75,650 |75,810 |73,910
East Anglia |31,020 |31,490 |31,770 |31,120
North West Thames |51,100 |50,910 |50,170 |49,330
North East Thames |66,300 |66,440 |66,540 |63,420
South East Thames |59,690 |60,220 |59,940 |58,520
South West Thames |43,080 |42,090 |42,310 |44,800
Wessex |43,750 |44,410 |44,940 |43,230
Oxford |33,040 |33,540 |32,670 |32,860
South Western |51,050 |51,900 |52,770 |52,410
West Midlands |83,570 |83,840 |83,980 |85,160
Mersey |41,660 |40,610 |40,040 |39,370
North Western |71,950 |70,780 |71,890 |70,400
SHAs and others |24,020 |24,980 |29,880 |35,870
|-------|-------|-------|-------
England total |787,170|788,140|794,280|789,990
Notes:
1. Some totals for 1990 and 1991 differ from those given
in my reply on 20 November 1992 at column 435 where the
medical and dental figures were at that time provisional
and have now been revised.
2. The validation of the 1992 data for ambulance staff
uncovered an error in the statistics for ambulance staff
in Northern region in 1991. The error has been corrected
in this table and so staff totals for 1991 differ from
figures previously published.
3. "SHAs and others" includes those in special health
authorities, family health services authorities and other
statutory authorities. Staff in special hospitals are
included in "SHAs and others" from 1991 onwards.
4. The total number of staff given includes both medical
and non-medical staff but excludes locum doctors and
agency nurses.
5. All figures are independently rounded to the nearest
10 whole-time equivalents.
6. Whole-time equivalents are calculated by aggregating
the total number of hours worked by staff in a grade and
dividing by the standard hours for that grade. In this
way, numbers of part-time staff are converted into an
equivalent number of whole-time staff.
Influenza Vaccine
Mr. Dover : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps she has taken to ensure that adequate supplies of influenza vaccine are being made available to doctors in (a) the north-western region and (b) Chorley.
Mr. Sackville : The Department has kept in close touch with influenza vaccine manufacturers who are producing additional supplies to replace those which did not gain a licence. The manufacturers have said that they intend to complete delivery of all outstanding orders no later than 7 December.
Bromley DHA
Mr. Dowd : To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) how much of the HIV/AIDS funds was ring-fenced for Bromley district health authority for 1991-92 and 1992-93 ; and if the relevant accounts have been published and audited ;
(2) what are the South East Thames regional health authority South East Thames regional health authority
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HIV/AIDS funds budgets for each year since 1991-92 ; and what proportion of the SETRHA HIV/AIDS funds went to each of the district health authorities ;(3) when the 1991-92 and 1992-93 Bromley district health authority's overall accounts were published and audited.
Mr. Sackville : The information requested has been published in the AIDS (Control) Act reports for South East Thames regional health authority, copies of which have been placed in the Library. The external auditor certified the accounts of Bromley health authority on 30 October 1992 and 29 October 1993 for the financial years 1991-92 and 1992-93 respectively. The accounts are made publicly available following the audit certification.
Mr. Dowd : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what are the names of the members of Bromley district health authority.
Dr. Mawhinney : The chairmanship of Bromley health authority is vacant due to the recent death of Mr. Alan Cumming.
At the next meeting of the district health authority on 14 December, the members will select an acting chairman from among the non-executive members.
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The non-executive members are Mr. C. Ilsley, Mrs. E. Giles, Ms M. Theobald and Dr. R. Kirby.The executive members are Ms C. Perry, Mr. P. Lloyd, Mr. K. Barton, Mr. R. Lorimer and Dr. J. Spilby.
Domiciliary Care
Mr. Hinchliffe : To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what steps are being taken to monitor the impact of the requirement to spend 85 per cent. of the special transitional grant in the independent sector on domiciliary care ; and if she will make a statement ;
(2) what mechanisms exist to monitor local authorities' compliance with the requirement to spend 85 per cent. of the special transitional grant for domiciliary care in the independent sector.
Mr. Bowis : Prior to 1993, all the resources transferred from the Department of Social Security to social services departments, via the community care transitional grant, went to the independent sectors. Local authorities are required to spend at least 85 per cent. of the social security transfer element of the special transitional grant on independent sector community care services. We have established an extensive programme of monitoring and evaluation which is considering all the key aspects of the implementation of the community care reforms. The district audit service will verify compliance with the requirement.
District Health Authorities
Mr. Milburn : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will provide a table showing those district health authorities that are over their capitation targets indicating (a) the percentage that they are over capitation and (b) the cash amount that this represents of current budgets.
Dr. Mawhinney : The information for 1993-94 has been placed in the Library.
General Practitioners
Mrs. Jane Kennedy : To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many general practitioners' surgeries there are in Liverpool, South Sefton, Knowsley and St. Helens and Wirral health authorities ; how many of these are single general practitioner's practices ; and what is the average list size of practices in each authority.
Dr. Mawhinney : The information is shown in the table.
Family health |Number of practices|Number of single |Average list size services authority |handed practices ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Liverpool |103 |41 |2,041 Sefton |55 |21 |2,010 St. Helens and Knowsley |77 |26 |2,034 Wirral |68 |17 |1,874 The data relate to April 1993. The practice information provided relates to the number of partnerships. Some of these partnerships may practise from more than one surgery.
Ms Primarolo : To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many general practitioners have moved from working outside London to inner London under the provisions of "Making London Better".
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Dr. Mawhinney : Data are not available centrally showing the movement of general practitioners from one family health services authority to another. It is too early to assess the impact of "Making London Better" on GP manpower. Available information on the numbers of unrestricted GPs in the 12 complete FHSAs which fall wholly or partly within the London initiative zone as at 1 April 1993 is shown in the table :
FHSA |Unrestricted GPs
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Brent and Harrow |272
Ealing, Hammersmith and Hounslow |372
Kensington, Chelsea and Westminster |189
Barking and Havering |182
Camden and Islington |218
City and East London |355
Enfield and Haringey |277
Redbridge and Waltham Forest |225
Greenwich and Bexley |213
Lambeth, Southwark and Lewisham |419
Croydon |160
Merton, Sutton and Wandsworth |323
|---
Total |3,205
Sight Tests
Dame Jill Knight : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what information she has concerning the costs to optometrists of carrying out a GOS sight test in 1992 ; and what was the GOS sight test fee paid to optometrists for the corresponding period.
Dr. Mawhinney : The Department has recently received a report commissioned by the staff side of Whitley committee C in support of their claim for an increase in the level of the national health service sight test fee. This report, which we are now studying, suggests that optometrists' unit costs in 1992 were £18.42 per sight test. The NHS sight test fee was £12.75 in 1992.
Emergency Admissions
Mrs. Jane Kennedy : To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many emergency admissions have been made through accident and emergency units at the Royal Liverpool university hospital, Broadgreen hospital, Fazakerley hospital, and Whiston hospital during (a) April 1992 to April 1993 and (b) April 1993 to date.
Mr. Sackville : This information is not available centrally. The hon. Member may wish to contact the chairmen of the relevant national health service trusts for details.
Registered Homes
Mr. Hinchliffe : To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many appeals to registered homes tribunals have been heard in each year since the implementation of the Registered Homes Act 1984, and what were (a) the categories of case/section of the Act which appellants appeared, (b) whether the hearings concerned care, nursing homes, or joint registered homes and (c) the outcome of hearings.
Mr. Bowis : The numbers of appeals heard by registered homes tribunals in each year since they began to operate in 1985 were :
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|Number
---------------------
1985 |11
1986 |36
1987 |26
1988 |30
1989 |25
1990 |26
1991 |32
1992 |33
The further information requested by the hon. Member could only be provided at disproportionate cost.
Mr. Hinchliffe : To ask 84 ; in each year how many of those were (a) charitable or not-for-profit homes, (b) private care homes, (c) private nursing homes and (d) joint registration homes ; and under which provisions of the Act the deregistration took place.
Mr. Bowis : The Department does not hold information about the numbers of homes which have been deregistered.
Oxendon House
Mr. Madel : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what discussions her Department has had with Bedfordshire county council about the future of Oxenden house, Leighton Buzzard, Bedfordshire ; and if she will make a statement.
Mr. Bowis [pursuant to his reply, 25 November 1993, c. 136] : I regret that there was an error in my previous reply which should have read :
"The Department has been kept informed about recent developments in relation to Bedfordshire county council's children's home, Oxendon house. I understand that the acting principal of the home has been arrested by the police and that four other members of staff have been suspended. Following advice from the social services inspectorate, the county council is conducting an investigation into allegations of inappropriate therapies and restraint techniques and the general culture of the home. Meanwhile the home has been closed, the children relocated and 45 members of staff have been given leave of absence. The social services inspectorate is continuing to monitor the situation."
OVERSEAS DEVELOPMENT
Non-governmental Organisations
38. Mr. Soley : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what percentage of the United Kingdom aid budget the Government plan to give to non-governmental organisations in the next two years.
Mr. Lennox-Boyd : The policy of enhancing the role that NGOs play in delivering our aid will continue. I cannot anticipate the public expenditure plans that will be announced tomorrow.
43. Mr. Bates : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how the Overseas Development Administration is supporting the work of non-governmental organisations in helping to meet the long-term needs of the poorest communities in developing countries.
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Mr. Lennox-Boyd : In 1992-93 the ODA gave grants totalling over £77 million to support the long-term development programmes of British non-governmental organisations in their efforts to alleviate poverty among the poorest groups in developing countries.
Aid Spending
41. Mrs. Roche : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many representations have been received by his Department urging him to increase aid spending to 0.7 per cent. of national income.
Mr. Lennox-Boyd : Many hon. Members have written to Ministers.
Bosnia
42. Ms Lynne : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what measures are being taken by Her Majesty's Government to help the victims of the war in Bosnia during the winter.
Mr. Lennox-Boyd : The Government have committed over £152 million for aid to victims of the conflict in the former Yugoslavia. We also contribute substantially to the Sarajevo airlift and through our 2, 300 troop contribution to the United Nations protection forces.
Burundi
Mr. Worthington : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what estimate he has received of the number of refugees from Burundi into neighbouring countries.
Mr. Lennox-Boyd : According to latest estimates we have received from the United Nations, a total of some 700,000 refugees have fled Burundi --including 375,000 into Rwanda, 245,000 into Tanzania and 50, 000 in Zaire.
World Bank (Loans)
Mr. Denham : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (1) what evaluation studies have been undertaken by the Overseas Development Administration of the impact and effectiveness of World bank project loans and structural adjustment programmes ; which non- governmental organisations have been consulted in these studies ; and if he will make a statement ;
(2) what evaluation studies have been done by the Overseas Development Administration of World bank project loans and structural adjustment programmes ; which non-governmental oganisations were consulted ; and what measures are being taken to forward these reports to the Foreign Affairs Select Committee or the executive director of the World bank.
Mr. Lennox-Boyd : Evaluations of completed World bank projects are the responsibility of the bank's independent operations evaluation department. Summaries of evaluation reports will be among the expanded list of documents to be made publicly available under the bank's revised disclosure of information policy.
The ODA has produced a number of evaluations where we have co-financed with the bank. Details of how reports or summaries can be obtained are set out in ODA's "Catalogue of Evaluation Studies", a copy of which has been placed in the Library of the House.
Column 309
World Bank Projects
Mr. Denham : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (1) what evaluations were made of the environmental effects and effects on indigenous peoples of the World bank-funded Pangue dam project in Chile by the Overseas Development Administration ; what were the results ; what guidance was given to the United Kingdom executive director of the World bank as to voting on the project ; and how the United Kingdom executive director voted ;
(2) what evaluations were conducted by the Overseas Development Administration concerning the displacement effects of the World bank's Daguangba Hainan project in China ; what were the results ; which local groups were consulted ; what guidance was given to the United Kingdom executive director as to voting ; and how the United Kingdom executive director voted ;
(3) what studies were conducted by the Overseas Development Administration on the environmental effects of the World bank-funded National Thermal Power Corporation's project in India ; what were the results ; which groups were consulted ; what guidance was given to the United Kingdom executive director of the World bank as to voting on the issue ; and how the United Kingdom executive director voted ; (4) what environmental studies were conducted on the Kureimat thermal power plant in Egypt by the Overseas Development Administration ; what were the results of any such study ; which groups were consulted in the evaluation ; what advice was given to the United Kingdom executive director of the World bank as to voting on the issue ; and how the United Kingdom executive director voted ; (5) what studies were conducted of social consequences and displacement of population by the Overseas Development Administration on the Ertan hydroelectric plant in China ; what were the results of any such study ; which local groups were consulted ; what guidance on voting in respect of the plant was given to the United Kingdom executive director of the World bank ; and how the United Kingdom executive director voted.
Mr. Lennox-Boyd : ODA does not commission studies of individual project proposals presented to the World bank's board of directors for approval except where we are considering co-financing. This has not arisen in the cases specified.
Project appraisal reports and such supporting documents as summary environmental assessments which are sent to the board are reviewed by our executive director's office and, on a selective basis--mainly adjustment operations or environmentally sensitive projects--within ODA. Comments received from time to time from interested NGOs are taken into account. It is not our practice to reveal instructions to our executive director, nor to disclose the position he takes in board discussions, the proceedings of which are confidential.
Mr. Denham : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what were the results of the World bank studies of the Narmada dam project in India initiated at the time that the loan was cancelled.
Mr. Lennox-Boyd : A number of environmental and hydrological studies which were initiated before cancellation of the balance of the bank loan for the Sardar Sarovar dam project in the Narmada valley, India, were financed
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under a technical assistance grant from ODA to the bank. The Indian authorities have recently agreed that these reports can be made available publicly. A set of the reports is being placed in the Library of the House. We have not yet seen other studies arising from the action programme agreed between the Indian authorities and the bank in October 1992.Mr. Denham : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what World bank projects are currently being evaluated by the Overseas Development Administration ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Lennox-Boyd : ODA's evaluation unit is not currently undertaking any evaluation of completed bank projects.
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