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HEALTH

Hospital Doctors (Negligence)

Mr. Gordon Prentice : To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many hospital doctors have been struck off in each year since 1979 for medical negligence or incompetence.

Dr. Mawhinney : The General Medical Council produces information annually about doctors who have been struck off the medical register. These statistics are published in the GMC's annual report and in the annual volumes of council minutes, copies of which are available in the Library. Information can also be obtained from the GMC press office.

Dentistry

Ms Corston : To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many dental surgeons have been appointed by the Avon family health services authority in the Bristol area to undertake NHS treatment, for the last three years for which figures are available.

Dr. Mawhinney : The total number of general service dentists, including principals, assistants and vocational trainees, under contract to Avon family health services authority, for the last three years are :


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Year   |Number       

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

1991   |374          

1992   |374          

1993   |382          

Census carried out   

on 30 September in   

each year.           

Ethics

Mr. Redmond : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what action she proposes to take to maintain traditional ethical standards at top-level NHS management levels.

Dr. Mawhinney : In January 1993, the national health service management executive issued guidance, HSG(93)5, to NHS trusts and health authorities about standards of business conduct for NHS staff, copies of which are available in the Library.

In addition, from 1 April 1994 the boards of all NHS bodies will be required to comply with a new code of conduct which will ensure that public service values continue to underpin all decision-making at board level.

Consultants

Ms Primarolo : To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many consultants had full-time, and how many part-time, contracts in each health authority and trust in each year since 1979.

Dr. Mawhinney : The tables showing the numbers of full-time and part -time consultant contracts in each of the regional health authorities and in those trusts that were in existence in 1991 and 1992 will be placed in the Library. Information for all district health authorities is not available centrally.

Care Orders

Miss Lestor : To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many teenage mothers in care between 1986 and 1993 have had care orders placed on their babies.

Mr. Bowis : The age of mothers and whether they themselves are in care is not information required when local authorities make returns on children in care to the Department.

Ministerial Offices

Mr. Boyes : To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many bottles of (a) whisky and gin and (b) sherry and port were consumed by her private offices in 1993-94.

Mr. Sackville : Disaggregated information of this sort could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

Mr. Boyes : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what was the cost of new furniture for her private offices during the year 1993-94.

Mr. Sackville : Such purchases are included within my Department's overall administration expenditure which is published every year in the annual report.

Freephone and Freepost

Mr. Donohoe : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will make a statement on the use of freephone and freepost facilities currently being operated by her


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Department ; how much these facilities are costing ; for what purposes these facilities are being used ; and how much her Department and its predecessor has spent on operating freephone and freepost facilities in each financial year since 1979.

Mr. Sackville : The Department uses freephone and freepost facilities for the public to request and receive free information or materials on health-related subjects and on their rights as national health service patients. The facilities include the health information service and the health literature ordering service. Costing information for all the Department's freephone and freepost facilities could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Microwaves

Mr. Austin Mitchell : To ask the President of the Board of Trade what are the comparative standards in (a) the United Kingdom, (b) France, (c) Germany and (d) the USA for field strengths of electro-magnetic energy within the microwave wave-bands relative to harmful effects caused to human beings.

Mr. Sackville : I have been asked to reply.

The United Kingdom is one of the few countries which have formulated guidance, not standards, on restricting exposure. In November 1993 the National Radiological Protection Board published guidelines on restricting exposure to electromagnetic fields, copies of which are available in the Library. These are based on comprehensive reviews of relevant biological and human health studies carried out by NRPB staff and on the advice of the advisory group on non-ionising radiation set up by the director of the NRPB. In the United Kingdom, for populations including children, the levels range from 75 volts per metre, V/m, at 300 megahertz to 194 V/m at 300 gigahertz.

Other countries, for example, France and Germany, have guidelines based on those issued in 1988 by the international non-ionizing radiation committee of the International Radiation Protection Association. For the general public, the levels range from 27.5 V/m to 61 V/m and for occupationally exposed people from 61 V/m to 137 V/m.

In the United States of America, the Institute for Electrical and Electronics Engineers 1991 standard set levels based on "controlled" and "uncontrolled" environments. For uncontrolled environments the levels range from 27.5 V/m to 194 V/m and for controlled environments from 61.4 V/m to 194 V/m.

Maternity Units

Ms Jowell : To ask the Secretary of State for Health when her Department last gave advice on security in maternity units.

Mr. Sackville : The revised "National Health Service Security Manual", funded by the Department and issued to the service on 29 April 1992, provides guidance and recommendations on general security matters, including patient safety. Copies of the manual are available in the Library.


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Hospital Construction, Buckinghamshire

Mr. Lidington : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will list the major hospital building projects in Buckinghamshire completed since 1978-79 or now under way, giving in each case the amount of public money spent.

Mr. Sackville : The information is shown in the tables.


Completed schemes                                                                  

Project/scheme                  |Public          |Completion date                  

                                |expenditure<1>                                    

                                |£                                                 

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

Amersham-dermatology unit       |2,306,769       |21January 1994                   

Amersham operating theatres     |1,333,653       |24 June1983                      

Amersham phase 1                |6,193,487       |22 July 1991                     

Buckingham-phase 1              |1,263,502       |16 February1990                  

Milton Keynes DGH-end unit      |1,202,638       |24 September1992                 

Milton Keynes DGH-MI unit       |2,495,264       |24 November1988                  

Milton Keynes DGH-OPD           |3,578,463       |13 November1989                  

Milton Keynes DGH-phase 1       |16,358,544      |12 September1983                 

Milton Keynes DGH-phase 2       |17,333,464      |21 August1991                    

St. Johns EMI                   |1,816,779       |11 March 1991                    

Stoke Mandeville-maternity unit |6,030,648       |5 May 1991                       

Stoke Mandeville-OPD/hospice    |1,598,049       |18 July 1989                     

Stoke Mandeville-pathology      |1,545,574       |5 May1989                        

Stoke Mandeville-X-Ray          |1,287,006       |10 July1987                      

Tindal MI development           |3,831,237       |7 May1991                        

Tweed Drive-nursing home        |1,224,958       |17 November1989                  

Wycombe pathology               |1,314,300       |5 July1985                       

DGH-District General Hospital.                                                     

EMI-Elderly Mentally Infirm.                                                       

OPD-Out-Patients Department.                                                       

MI-Mental Illness.                                                                 


Schemes under construction                                                        

Project/scheme              |Public           |Completion date                    

                            |Expenditure<1>                                       

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

Wycombe X-Ray extension and                                                       

 alterations                |955,526          |16 September 1994                  

Milton Keynes-secure unit                                                         

 phase 2                    |1,577,374        |28 November 1994                   

Note: Information is not available for schemes before 1980.                       

<1> Includes construction costs, fees and equipment. Information is not           

available centrally on total costs for schemes. For example VAT and Land          

Purchase costs are excluded.                                                      

NHS Trusts

Mr. Ainger : To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many NHS trusts have had their audited accounts qualified ; and if she will list them.

Mr. Sackville [holding answer 3 March 1994] : Qualifications were made to the audit opinions of five national health service trusts accounts for the financial year 1992-93. These were :

Ashford Hospital NHS Trust

Cornwall and Isles of Scilly Mental Handicap NHS Trust

North East Essex Mental Health NHS Trust

Walsgrave Hospital NHS Trust

Wellhouse NHS Trust

London Implementation Group

Mr. Corbyn : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what meetings she has had with members of the London implementation group ; and what directions she gave them.


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Dr. Mawhinney : My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State meets the chairman and chief executive of the London implementation group at regular intervals to discuss matters relating to London's health services.

GP Fundholders

Mr. Corbyn : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what are the total number of fundholding general practitioner practices in Greater London ; and if she will list them by name and health district.

Dr. Mawhinney : There are currently 304 general practitioner fundholding practices in the four Thames regions. Detailed information is not available centrally, but is available from the regional health authorities concerned.

Asthma

Mr. Corbyn : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what action is being taken by her Department to co-ordinate research into the causes of asthma among (a) adults and (b) children ; and how much is spent on research in this area.

Mr. Sackville : The Department of Health is a founder member of the Respiratory Research Liaison Committee, which includes the major organisations with a research interest in respiratory diseases. The committee has a considerable interest in asthma. I also refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave him on 14 February at column 627 . In addition, the national health service research and development strategy is determining research priorities on a range of difficult problems of direct relevance to the NHS and work is planned to establish detailed priorities in the field of respiratory diseases across all age groups.

The main agency through which the Government support biomedical and clinical research is the Medical Research Council, which receives its grant -in-aid from the office of my right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster. In 1992-93 the MRC spent £759,000 on research into asthma and a further £757,000 on research which may be relevant to the condition.

Mr. Corbyn : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what discussions have been held with the Department for Education concerning children's asthma and the effect on education ; and if she will make a statement.

Mr. Bowis : Recent discussions have related to inquiries from teachers about children in need of medication for the relief of asthma. It has been agreed that teachers should, in consultation with parents and with appropriate medical advice, do all that is reasonable to enable these children to obtain maximum benefit from education and to participate as fully as possible in school life. Where possible children should be encouraged to manage their own condition with the support, as necessary, of teaching and school health service staff.

University College Hospital

Mr. Corbyn : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what special assistance is to be given to University College hospital in 1993-94 and planned for 1994-95.

Dr. Mawhinney : In 1993-94 to date, £10,634 million transitional funding support has been agreed in respect of University College London hospitals. The level of transitional funding support for 1994-95 has not yet been determined.


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NHS Trusts

Mr. Lewis : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will list the non-executive directors appointed to health trusts in the city of Salford, together with their full-time occupations and current places of residence.

Dr. Mawhinney : Non-executive directors of national health service trusts are expected to live or work in the area covered by the trust, or have connections with it. Information on the place of residence of those appointees is available from NHS trusts.

Details of appointees are :

Salford Hospitals NHS Trust

Mr. J. Moorhouse--Public relations consultant

Mr. N. Eldred--Business school director

Mrs. P. Morris--Management consultant

Professor R. Tallis--Professor of geriatric medicine

Mrs. L. Fairfield--Solicitor

Salford Community Health Care NHS Trust

Mrs. M. Wilkinson--Regional manager, community services

Ms J. Marchant--Company secretary

Mrs. P. Banning--Social worker

Mr. J. Jesky--Managing director

Mr. N. McArthur--Company chairman

Mental Health Services of Salford NHS Trust

Miss L. Frank-Riley--Enterprise manager

Professor P. Huxley--University professor

Mr. M. Jowett--Solicitor

Mr. A. Freeman--Chartered accountant

Mr. W. Smith--Retired company chairman

Advertising

Mr. Matthew Taylor : To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to her answer of 14 February, Official Report, column 623 , (1) what is the estimated cost of each campaign provisionally scheduled for 1994-95 ;

(2) what is the budgeted and actual cost of each campaign listed ; (3) during what months in 1994-95 it is intended that each of the community care, children's services, family health services complaints, GP fundholding, "The Health of the Nation", help with NHS treatment costs, "Keep Warm Keep Well", open government and patients charter campaigns will operate.

Mr. Sackville : Actual costs for 1993-94 will not be available until the final outturn figures are available. Final decisions on campaigns and campaign budgets for 1994-95 have not yet been made. Provisional figures for 1994-95 were listed in the reply I gave the hon. Member on 14 February at column 623 .

Mr. Matthew Taylor : To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to her answer of 14 February, Official Report , column 623 , if she will publish the telephone response and coupon response to each advertising and publicity campaign where applicable.

Mr. Sackville : The information is shown in the table :


Campaign                               |Coupon/   |Telephone            

                                       |order card|response             

                                       |response                        

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

Travel Safe                                                             

 July 1993 to February 1994            |11,453    |2,748                

Blood Donor Recruitment                                                 

 April 1993 to February 1994           |n/a       |120,242              

Community Care                                                          

 April 1993 to February 1994           |103,558   |28,038               

Drugs and Solvent Misuse                                                

 April 1993 to February 1994           |45,425    |37,763               

Organ Donation                                                          

 April 1993 to February 1994           |n/a       |11,022               

Health Service Professions Recruitment                                  

 April 1993 to February 1994           |2,939     |n/a                  

Blood Donations

Mr. Blunkett : To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what was (a) the number of blood donors, (b) the quantity of blood donated and (c) the amount of blood required for each region for each month since April 1993 ;

(2) in which of the English health regions there is a surplus of donated blood ; and in how many regions blood plasma is in short supply.

Mr. Sackville : National stocks are sufficient at present to meet the needs of all health regions in England. Surplus stocks held in individual regions are transferred by the National Blood Authority if needed to satisfy requirements elsewhere.

The additional information available centrally will be placed in the Library.

NORTHERN IRELAND

Illegal Fishing

Mr. Beggs : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what is the current status of the bailiff who uncovered the unauthorised removal of salmon for the purpose of stripping eggs from them and which resulted in the RUC investigation into allegations against bailiffs and a scientist in 1990.

Mr. Ancram : This officer is a current employee of the Fisheries Conservancy Board for Northern Ireland.

Mr. Beggs : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will investigate allegations that 4 in immature roach are being caught in Northern Ireland, blast frozen, offered to Northern Ireland tackle dealers and sold in Dublin tackle shops.

Mr. Ancram : No. Juvenile roach may be captured lawfully for use as bait under licence from the Fisheries Conservancy Board for Northern Ireland.

Mr. Beggs : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland whether any disciplinary action was taken by the Fisheries Conservancy Board against those members of staff about whom allegations of salmon egg stripping had been made in 1990.

Mr. Ancram : One member of staff was cautioned about the misuse of powers conferred by permit issued by the Department of Agriculture under section 14 of the Fisheries Act (NI) 1966.

Fish Farms

Mr. Beggs : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland whether all commercial fish farms have a consent to discharge.


Column 349

Mr. Tim Smith : All fish farms known to the Department of the Environment for Northern Ireland hold current discharge consents.

Mr. Beggs : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how frequently river bed sampling for residues of chemicals in use on commercial fish farms is carried out.

Mr. Tim Smith : Discharge consents granted under the Water Act (Northern Ireland) 1972 for fish farms specify concentration limits for chemicals used in the industry. On the basis of the scientific data available on the chemicals used, there is no evidence to indicate that these compounds would accumulate in river bed sediments. The Department of the Environment for Northern Ireland regularly undertakes biological monitoring of invertebrates at locations downstream of fish farms. To date there is no evidence from this monitoring to indicate any accumulation in sediments giving rise to stress in invertebrate populations. For these reasons it is considered that there is no need for river bed chemical sampling.

Mr. Beggs : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland whether inspections are carried out to ensure the safe storage and minimum use of chemicals, anti-bactericides and disinfectants regularly used on fish farms.

Mr. Ancram : Department of Agriculture officials carry out regular inspections to ensure the safe storage of chemicals and to monitor the use of chemical substances on fish. Fish farmers are also required to keep a record of chemical usage. Water discharge consents issued under the Water Act (NI) 1972 lay down the maximum discharge concentration of chemicals which may be discharged into watercourses. As there are no major fish diseases present in Northern Ireland, the use of chemicals, anti- bactericides and disinfectants is generally well below the maximum levels permitted by the discharge consents.

Mr. Beggs : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what evidence he has of a build-up of copper derivatives in river bed soils downstream from commercial fish farms.

Mr. Tim Smith : The Department of the Environment for Northern Ireland is not aware of any use of chemicals containing copper in the fish farm industry in Northern Ireland. Monitoring of river bed soils for such substances downstream of fish farms is not, therefore, considered necessary.

Mr. Beggs : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how frequently samples of discharge into rivers/watercourses from commercial fish farms are taken.

Mr. Tim Smith : The Department of the Environment for Northern Ireland has a rolling programme for monitoring fish farms for compliance with consents granted under the Water Act (Northern Ireland) 1972. Composite sampling is carried out over a continuous period of up to seven days. In addition, discharges from fish farms are monitored annually on a selective basis employing spot sampling. As part of the river monitoring programme undertaken by the Department in Northern Ireland, monitoring stations are located downstream of the vast majority of consented discharges. These stations are monitored on between four and 24 occasions annually.


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Crime

Mr. Redmond : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many people were sentenced to a prison term under each offence category in the latest year for which figures are available ; and what numbers and percentage of the total were fine defaulters.

Sir John Wheeler : The numbers of people received into prison under sentence of immediate custody for each offence category for 1992 are given in the table and total 1,312. The number of people received into prison for fine default was 1,716. Therefore, the percentage which fine defaulters comprise of the total number received into prison--under sentence of immediate custody and for fine default but exclusive of remand receptions-- was 57 per cent.


Receptions under sentence of immediate    

custody, by offence 1992                  

                            |Number       

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

Violence against the person |256          

Sexual Offences             |72           

Burglary                    |191          

Robbery                     |128          

Theft                       |245          

Fraud and Forgery           |39           

Criminal Damage             |79           

Drugs Offences              |10           

Motoring Offences           |173          

Other Offences              |119          

Advertising

Mr. Matthew Taylor : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, pursuant to is answer of 18 February, Official Report, column 1034, if he will place in the Library a copy of the results of any surveys or research undertaken in relation to the advertising and promotion campaigns listed.


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