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Mr. Matthew Taylor : To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) if she will list the organisations and individuals who have been asked, since June 1992, to submit names of individuals to be considered for appointments to paid and unpaid posts for which a Minister has to approve the person or shortlist for the appointment ;
(2) if she will list the organisations and individuals outside her Department who are sent information on, or consulted about, individuals who are, or may be, proposed to the Minister for appointment to posts for which a Minister has to approve the person appointed or the shortlist for the appointment.
Mr. Sackville : No central record is maintained of the organisations and individuals consulted. The Department's aim is to appoint people from a broad range of different backgrounds, and many professional and voluntary bodies are consulted when appointments are made to public bodies.
Nominations for the chairmen and ministerial non-executive appointments to regional health authorities and national health service trust boards are sought from the chairmen of the appropriate regional health authorities.
Surplus Property
Mr. Gordon Prentice : To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what steps she intends to take to ensure that redundant hospitals are disposed of promptly ;
(2) what steps she takes to ensure that health authorities and NHS trusts pay due regard to the Department's estate code on property transactions in the NHS in disposing of surplus property.
Mr. Sackville : None. Health authorities and trusts are expected to follow the guidance contained in "Property Transactions in the NHS", and to conduct disposals expeditiously and in accordance with the advice of professional agents. Copies of the guidance are available in the Library.
Column 591
Mr. Gordon Prentice : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what is the estimated current value of the national health service estate in the North Western regional health authority region which is surplus and is to be disposed of.
Mr. Sackville : North Western regional health authority estimate the value of surplus property available for disposal over the next 10 years to be about £56 million.
Mr. Hoyle : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what representations she has received concerning expenditure by Warrington Community NHS trust on maintaining empty properties ; what guidance has been issued to trusts on these costs ; and how they are counted for capital charging purposes.
Mr. Sackville : National health service trusts are responsible for managing their own estates.
The costs of maintaining property is a revenue cost accounted for through the trust's accounting procedures.
Capital charges are payable in respect of property in use based on an assessment of their existing use value. There is guidance on their reassessment of values for capital charges for empty property in the capital charges and trust equivalent manual.
Hospital Closures
Mr. Gordon Prentice : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will make it her policy to collect centrally information on hospital closures in England.
Mr. Sackville : No, these are for local decision except where statutory objections are raised. In her statement of 21 October 1993, Official Report, columns 398-412, my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State announced changes to streamline and simplify central management. This requires that central reports are kept to a minimum.
Mr. Milburn : To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to her answer of 23 March, Official Report, columns 231-32, if she will list the known hospital closures contested by community health councils in each year between 1979 and 1988.
Mr. Sackville : Records of notification of proposed closures were not routinely collected before 1990. The previous reply provided all the information readily available.
Building Projects
Mr. Redmond : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what major building projects valued at over £1 million are being or have been wholly or partly financed since 1989 in (a) Doncaster, (b) Barnsley, (c) Rotherham and (d) Wakefield by her Department ; and what was the cost of each project to her Department.
Mr. Sackville : The information is as follows :
Building projects since 1989 valued at over £1 million
|Expenditure to|Recorded ex-
|completion or |penditure to
|estimated out-|date
|turn cost
|£ |£
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Doncaster
Doncaster royal infirmary phase 1
(west end development) |2,284,635 |-
Doncaster west end development
theatre and enabling works<1> |2,925,000 |247,586
Barnsley
None
Rotherham
Swallownest long-stay mental illness
unit |2,952,022 |-
Rotherham district general hospital
phase 3B geriatric unit<1> |6,869,000 |4,449,518
Rotherham general phase 3A, acute-
obstetric ward<1> |3,297,000 |1,346,790
Wakefield
None
<1> Building projects currently under construction with a total value of over £1
million.
Dental Services
Mr. Thurnham : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what was the average number of teeth of five-year-old children suffering from dental decay for (a) 1991 and (b) the most recent date for which information is available, analysed by district for England, in descending order of good health.
Dr. Mawhinney : The Department has commissioned the Office of Population Censuses and Surveys to conduct surveys of the dental health of children at 10-year intervals. The most recent survey was carried out in 1993 and the report will be published later this year. Copies of previous survey reports and preliminary results of the 1993 survey are available in the Library.
Information on the dental health of five-year-old children is available from surveys by the British Association for the Study of Community Dentistry. Copies of the latest published report, which relates to a survey conducted in 1989-90, are available in the Library.
Mr. Jim Cunningham : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what representations she has received in respect of dentists encouraging patients to join insurance schemes to cover dental care.
Dr. Mawhinney : We receive correspondence from hon. Members, dentists and members of the public on many aspects of dentistry including provision of private treatment.
Mr. Jim Cunningham : To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people have left the national health service in relation to dental care, in each family health service authority covering Coventry.
Dr. Mawhinney : Some 1,676 patients were deregistered in the Coventry family health services authority area between 3 July 1992 and 18 March 1994. The number who subsequently reregistered with another general dental practitioner is not known. On 3 July 1992 the number of patients registered with a national health service dentist in Coventry was 181,371. At 31 January 1994 the total was 181,463, an increase of 92.
Column 593
Mr. Jim Cunningham : To ask the Secretary of State for Health how she is monitoring the numbers of dentists who have left the national health service (a) nationally and (b) in Coventry.
Dr. Mawhinney : The Department collects information from all family health services authorities of the number of dentists who have given written notice to remove their names from the FHSA dental lists, and of the number of dentists who deregister patients. The Dental Practice Board supplies periodic reports on the numbers of dentists in contract to the FHSAs.
Mr. Jim Cunningham : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans she has to review the level of dental charges (a) nationally and (b) in the Coventry area.
Dr. Mawhinney : The Government keep the level of national health service dental charges under regular review. Patient charges are determined nationally, and are not subject to local variation.
Mr. Jim Cunningham : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what guidelines she has issued for dentists regarding the encouragement of patients to take out private insurance schemes.
Dr. Mawhinney : The regulations governing general dental services stipulate that a dentist shall not, with a view to obtaining the agreement of a patient to undergo care and treatment privately, advise a patient that the care and treatment which is necessary to secure and maintain his oral health is not available from that dentist under general dental services. Nor may a dentist seek to mislead a patient about the quality of care and treatment available under general dental services.
Complaints
Dr. Wright : To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many written complaints relating to hospital and community services were made in each year since 1982.
Dr. Mawhinney : I refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave the hon. Member for Truro (Mr. Taylor) on 25 March at column 462. Information for the year 1992-93 is not yet available.
Dr. Wright : To ask the Secretary of State for Health when she expects to publish the report of the review of the national health service complaints procedure.
Dr. Mawhinney : I refer the hon. Member to my reply to the hon. Members for Bristol, South (Ms Primarolo) and for Birmingham, Perry Barr (Mr. Rooker) on 24 March at column 411.
Family Health Services (Drugs Bill)
Mrs. Currie : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what proportion of the drugs bill for the family health services has been accounted for by prescription charges in each of the last five years.
Dr. Mawhinney : None. The family health services drugs bill does not include the income received from prescription charges.
Column 594
PM10 Emissions
Mr. Dalyell : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment has been made by her Department of the number of excess deaths associated with emissions of PM10 ; and if she will make a statement.
Mr. Sackville : I refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave the hon. Member for Newport, West (Mr. Flynn) on 17 March at column 828.
Autism
Mr. Win Griffiths : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment she has made of the efforts of the responsible bodies to make an early diagnosis and assessment of children with autism ; what is the current assessment of the prevalence of autism in children ; and how many autistic children have been so diagnosed.
Mr. Bowis : It is primarily a matter for the statutory authorities to monitor the arrangements for assessment in their area. It is estimated that the prevalence rate of autism is between four and five per 10,000 population.
NHS Trusts
Mr. Blunkett : To ask the Secretary of State for Health which NHS trusts coming into operation on 1 April will have a turnover (a) in excess of £50 million, (b) between £20 to £50 million and (c) less than £20 million.
Mr. Sackville : The financial plans of the fourth wave of national health service trusts are currently being discussed with purchasing health authorities and the outposts of the National Health Service Management Executive and will be finalised during April. We expect that the information will be available shortly after that.
Ms Primarolo : To ask the Secretary of State for Health with whom Touche Ross had a contract to advise on the financial performance of fourth -wave trust hospitals in the west midlands ; and how much the contract was worth.
Mr. Sackville : The contract to advise on the financial viability of fourth-wave trust applicants was between Touche Ross and the National Health Service Management Executive of the Department of Health. It is inappropriate to disclose the value of the contract on the grounds of commercial confidentiality.
Waiting Times
Mr. Blunkett : To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what percentage of patients are seen and assessed for treatment within five minutes of arriving in accident and emergency departments ; (2) what percentage of patients are seen within 30 minutes of their out-patient appointment time.
Dr. Mawhinney : In the quarter ending 31 December 1993, 83 per cent. --estimated based on samples--of patients attending accident and emergency departments were assessed immediately and 80 per cent.--estimated based on samples--of patients were seen within 30 minutes of their specified appointment time in out-patient clinics.
Column 595
Civil Servants
Ms Armstrong : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will list for each civil service grade in her Department the number of (a) male and (b) female, (i) full-time and (ii) part-time employees.
Mr. Sackville : The information shows the position on 23 March 1994 :
Grade |Male |Female |Full-time |Part-time
(including grade
equivalents)
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
UG1 |3 |0 |3 |0
UG2 |8 |0 |8 |0
UG3 |20 |5 |24 |1
UG4 |17 |11 |28 |0
UG5 |126 |78 |181 |23
UG6 |92 |44 |132 |4
UG7 |425 |150 |527 |48
SEO |285 |117 |391 |11
HEO |398 |326 |683 |41
EO |408 |564 |973 |35
AO |347 |986 |1,273 |60
AA |227 |302 |478 |51
Others<1> |96 |70 |153 |13
|------- |------- |------- |-------
Totals |2,452 |2,653 |4,818 |287
<1>There are a number of grades, mainly in the youth treatment service, which do not easily equate to
unified grades.
Casual staff have been excluded, as have staff on loan to other Government Departments, on maternity
leave of more than three months, and on unpaid career breaks/study leave.
NHS Estates
Mr. Fatchett : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will list the current staffing levels of National Health Service Estates, setting out the number of staff (a) on permanent contracts and (b) on temporary contracts.
Mr. Sackville : The staffing level of the National Health Service Estates agency is as follows :
73 Staff on permanent contract
24 Staff employed on three-year fixed term contracts.
2 Staff employed on five-year fixed term contracts.
2 Staff employed on temporary contracts of less than one year. 27 Staff employed via Manpower Agency contract.
1 Temporary member of staff employed via a specialist financial employment agency.
NHSME Pamphlets
Mr. Blunkett : To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many pamphlets the National Health Service Management Executive has published since October 1993 ; and if she will list the title, the recipients and the cost.
Dr. Mawhinney : Since October 1993 the National Health Service Management Executive has published 15 pamphlets, leaflets and brochures. The table gives the description, cost and to whom they were sent.
Distribution to NHS Managers
Title |Cost
|£
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Ethnic Minorities Brochure |11,406
Private Finance Brochure |9,277
Health of the Nation One Year On |6,955
Targeting Practice for Nurses (including reprint) |<1>23,911
Management Executive News (7 monthly editions) |46,912
New World New Opportunities (reprint) |3,450
Patients Charter News (3 editions) |34,664
Value for Money Update |4,641
NHSME Annual Report |52,024
Primary Care Booklets |18,820
Patient Perception Booklets
(9 Booklets on various subjects) |377,000
Health Service Indicators Publicity-Prices leaflet |1,010
Establishing Districts of Residence |1,495
This is the Information Management Group |2,660
Risk Management Manual |25,614
<1> estimate
Home Help
Ms Armstrong : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what is her latest information on how much each local authority charges for home helps to people not on income-related benefits.
Mr. Bowis : I refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave the hon. Member for Wakefield (Mr. Hinchliffe) on 17 February at columns 931-32.
Medical Negligence
Mr. Milburn : To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to her answer of 14 March, Official Report, column 538, how many of the cases of medical negligence, and what costs, were associated with self-governing trusts.
Dr. Mawhinney : None for 1990-91, as there were no national health service trusts then. For 1991-92, the returns were incomplete, as previously stated, and it would be invidious to extract from the information already provided, the figures for NHS trusts that supplied them, without comparable details for others or for individual directly managed units.
Mr. Milburn : To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to her answer of 14 March, Official Report, column 538, when she expects the information on medical negligence claims for 1992-93 to be available.
Dr. Mawhinney : The information for 1992-93 that has been supplied by national health service bodies by 31 March 1994 will be collated and will be available shortly after that.
Hospital Admissions
Mr. Milburn : To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) pursuant to her answer of 8 March, Official Report, column 168, how many of the non- elective hospital admissions were from general practitioners fundholding practices in each region in each year ; (2) pursuant to her answer of 8 March, Official Report, column 168, how many of the non-elective hospital admissions were (a) readmissions and (b) self-referrals in each year in each region.
Mr. Sackville : The information available centrally on in-patient activity does not separately identify non-elective readmission rates, the level of self-referrals or whether individual patients are registered with fundholding or non-fundholding general practitioners.
Column 597
Highfield Primary School, Leeds
Mr. Blunkett : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what inquiry she is making into the role of Leeds health authority in providing sex and health education advice to Highfield primary school, Leeds.
Mr. Sackville : Leeds community and mental health services national health service trust employs the school nurse who has provided a sexual health education class at Highfield primary school. The school, the local education authority and the trust are co-operating in determining the facts about the class and will take any necessary action once the facts of the matter have been established.
Hospital Statistics
Mr. Blunkett : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will give by region (a) the number of new accident and emergency cases during 1992-93 and (b) the total out-patient attendances during 1992-93.
Mr. Sackville : The information is shown in "Outpatients and ward attenders for England : Financial Year 1992-93", a copy of which is available in the Library.
Radiation
Ms Primarolo : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps she has taken to examine ways of reducing children's artificial exposure to radiation, including X-rays.
Mr. Sackville [holding answer 23 March 1994] : Practitioners carrying out medical exposures of radiation are required by regulation 4(3) of the Ionising Radiation (Protection of Persons Undergoing Medical Examination or Treatment) Regulations 1988 to keep doses of ionising radiation to the patient as low as reasonably practicable in order to achieve the required diagnostic or therapeutic purpose. A guide to good radiation practice was published in 1988 by the United Kingdom Health Departments, the National Radiological Protection Board and the Health and Safety Executive. These are the "Guidance Notes for the Protection of Persons against Ionising Radiations Arising from Medical and Dental Use", copies of which are available in the Library.
All practitioners wishing to administer radioactive medicinal products must hold a certificate issued under the Medicines (Administration of Radioactive Substances) Regulations) 1978. The Administration of Radioactive Substances Advisory Committee advises the Department and the United Kingdom Health Ministers on matters connected with the issue of certificates and has also issued guidance notes. Investigations concerning children are the subject of special advice within those guidance notes. The ARSAC keeps its advice under constant review.
Following the issue of health circular (89)18, copies of which are available in the Library, all health authorities were required to review the management of all departments making use of ionising radiation to ensure that they conformed to the statutory requirements and the guidance on good practice. They were also required to set up a system to review and periodically update their procedures in the light of changing guidance.
The Department of Health medical devices directorate issued safety guidelines for magnetic resonance diagnostic equipment in clinical use in 1993. Copies of the guidelines will be placed in the Library.
Column 598
A further circular to the national health service is due to be issued later this year consolidating and updating advice on the statutory and management responsibilities in relation to the medical use of ionising radiations.The Department is currently funding a research project designed to test the feasibility of parents keeping a radiation dose log book for their child's diagnostic and therapeutic radiation doses from birth until the age of five years.
The reduction in medical radiation doses for the whole of the population including children is under constant review. Officials are in contact with all the professional bodies involved in the medical use of ionising radiation and have regular discussions with them. Meetings and discussions are also held regularly with the royal colleges connected with radiology, the NRPB and the Health and Safety Executive.
The Royal College of Radiologists has produced a booklet entitled "Making the best use of a Department of Clinical Radiology--guidelines for doctors". This gives specific advice for paediatric radiology and copies will be placed in the Library.
NHS Administration
Dr. Marek : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what was the total cost of employing managers, advisers, administrators and clerical staff in the NHS Management Executive, the NHS Supplies Authority, the Prescription Pricing Authority, the medical advisers support group and the Medicines Research Centre in each of the last three years for which figures are available.
Dr. Mawhinney [pursuant to his reply, 28 February 1994, c. 603] : I regret that some of the figures in my previous reply were provided incorrectly as millions rather than thousands.
They should read :
"The total manpower costs for the medical advisers support group--properly named the Medical Advisers Support Centre--were £71,108 in 1990-91-- part year in which the MASC was set up--£157,958 and £175, 936 in 1991-92 and 1992-93 respectively. The total manpower costs for the Medicines Research Centre--MeReC--were £83,000 in 1990-91--part year in whch the MeReC was set up--£114,247 and £111,828 in 1991-92 and 1992-93 respectively."
ATTORNEY-GENERAL
Civil Servants
Ms Armstrong : To ask the Attorney-General if he will list for each civil service grade in his Department the number of (a) male and (b) female, (i) full-time and (ii) part-time employees.
The Attorney-General : The information is set out in the table below and is correct as at 1 March 1994.
Members of the legal secretariat to the Law Officers will be reflected, as appropriate, in the records of the Government Departments from which they are seconded.
Male Female
Grade |Full-time|Part-time|Full-time|Part-time
------------------------------------------------------------
Treasury Solicitor's Department
1 |1 |- |- |-
2 |1 |- |1 |-
3 |8 |- |- |-
4 |2 |- |1 |-
5 |31 |- |9 |2
6 |50 |1 |11 |2
7<1> |59 |1 |39 |7
SEO<1> |13 |- |2 |-
HEO<1> |23 |- |20 |1
EO<1> |27 |- |52 |1
AO<1> |32 |- |68 |9
AA<1> |15 |- |22 |-
Crown Prosecution Service
1 |- |- |1 |-
2 |- |- |- |-
3 |5 |- |- |-
4 |15 |- |- |-
5 |46 |- |1 |-
6 |167 |- |25 |1
7<1><2> |1,130 |13 |790 |182
SEO<1> |76 |- |28 |3
HEO<1> |132 |- |149 |15
EO<1> |363 |4 |833 |96
AO<1> |353 |5 |978 |99
AA<1> |165 |2 |677 |113
Serious Fraud Office
1 |- |- |- |-
2 |1 |- |- |-
3 |1 |- |- |-
4 |1 |- |- |-
5 |8 |- |2 |-
6 |9 |- |5 |1
7<1> |10 |- |3 |-
SEO<1> |11 |- |2 |-
HEO<1> |12 |- |5 |-
EO<1> |12 |- |12 |-
AO<1> |13 |- |21 |-
AA<1> |4 |- |9 |1
<1> Figure includes equivalent Civil Service grades.
<2> Figure includes Senior Crown Prosecutor, Principal
Crown Prosecutor and Crown Prosecutor.
DUCHY OF LANCASTER
Rail Information
38. Mr. Rowe : To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Transport about the degree of openness in the information being made available about the channel tunnel rail link and other rail developments.
Mr. Waldegrave : I have had no discussion with my right hon. Friend on this particular subject.
Tenders
39. Mr. Clifton-Brown : To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what steps his Department is taking to ensure that when tenders for public work are invited that they are in realistic commercial terms and without unnecessary contingent liabilities.
Mr. David Davis : The Government's guide to market testing, produced by my Department and published in August 1993, gives advice on how to invite tenders for central Government work. This is supplemented and updated as the need arises.
Column 600
Civil Service
40. Mr. Brandreth : To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what has been the change in the size of the home civil service since 1987 ; and what change is expected in the next seven years.
Mr. David Davis : Since 1987, the size of the civil service has been reduced by 51,480 to 546,340 the lowest number in the past 50 years.
Plans for the next seven years are not available, but plans for the next three years are published in the "Statistical Supplement to the Financial Statement and Budget Report", Cm 2519, a copy of which is available in the Library.
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