| Previous Section | Home Page |
Ms Primarolo : To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many children in each year of age up to 18 years with care orders are (a) placed with foster families, (b) in homes and (c) in neither ; and how many are placed with foster families who are relatives.
Mr. Bowis : Information available centrally is shown in the table.
Column 889
Number of children under care orders by age and placement at 31 March 1992-England estimates
Placement
|Total |Foster |With relative|Other |Community |Other
|placement |or friends |placement |homes
|total
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total |36,300 |21,100 |3,100 |18,000 |3,400 |11,800
Under 1 |550 |400 |30 |370 |10 |140
Age at 31 March 1992
1 |1,200 |750 |80 |670 |10 |460
2 |1,400 |810 |100 |710 |10 |550
3 |1,600 |920 |140 |780 |10 |680
4 |1,600 |970 |140 |830 |40 |640
5 |1,700 |1,000 |160 |840 |40 |660
6 |1,700 |1,100 |150 |900 |60 |600
7 |1,800 |1,100 |160 |960 |70 |620
8 |1,800 |1,100 |160 |980 |80 |560
9 |1,900 |1,200 |170 |1,000 |130 |540
10 |1,900 |1,300 |170 |1,100 |150 |510
11 |2,000 |1,400 |200 |1,200 |200 |430
12 |2,200 |1,500 |200 |1,300 |250 |500
13 |2,200 |1,500 |200 |1,100 |340 |510
14 |2,500 |1,500 |220 |1,300 |440 |580
15 |2,900 |1,600 |260 |1,300 |620 |700
16 |3,500 |1,700 |270 |1,400 |590 |1,200
17 |3,500 |1,400 |230 |1,200 |330 |1,700
18 |300 |100 |10 |90 |30 |170
Figures are rounded to the nearest 100 for estimates a thousand or more and to the nearest 10 otherwise.
Hospital Records
Mr. Redmond : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what legislation is in place to safeguard (a) hospital medical records and (b) administrative hospital records ; what provisions are made to send them to a central depository or local archives ; what differences there are for NHS trusts ; and if she will make a statement.
Mr. Sackville : Medical and administrative records of national health service authorities, hospitals and trusts in England and Wales are covered by the Public Records Acts 1958 and 1967. The safe keeping and archiving of these records is the responsibility of individual NHS bodies, under the guidance of the Public Record Office. Advice on this was given to the NHS in health circular HC(89)20, a copy of which will be placed in the Library.
Hospital records selected for permanent preservation are kept in places of deposit appointed by the Keeper of Public Records on behalf of the Lord Chancellor under section 4(1) of the Public Records Act 1958, the great majority of which are local authority record offices.
Cancer Treatment
Ms Primarolo : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what research she has conducted into which cancers are better treated in a specialist cancer centre and for which cancers where it makes no difference.
Mr. Sackville : On the basis of research undertaken by the childhood cancer research group, funded by the Department at the University of Oxford, the survival rates of children with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia-- the most common form of childhood leukaemia--are found to be higher at centres treating larger numbers of patients.
For acute myeloid leukaemia, survival rates in children treated at specialist teaching hospitals were found to be higher.
For several other types of childhood cancer, survival rates were better when children were treated at specialist paediatric oncology centres.
Whether adult cancer patients are better treated in specialist centres, is one of the principal issues being addressed by the Government's Chief Medical Officer's expert advisory group, which is carrying out an overall examination of cancer services.
GP Fundholders
Ms Primarolo : To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many fundholders have informed her that they would go private if the system were ended.
Dr. Mawhinney : The recent Kings Fund Institute report, "Evaluating the NHS Reforms", states that the abandonment of fundholding " would probably lead to a substantial exodus from the NHS of fundholders setting up private insurance based HMOs".
Column 892
Ms Primarolo : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what evidence she has that non-fundholding general practitioners plan to go private.
Ms Primarolo : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what are the provisional figures for (a) the total general practitioner fundholding budget, (b) the total savings in real terms and (c) the total management cost of general practitioner fundholding in real terms in 1992-93.
Dr. Mawhinney : Provisional figures suggest that in 1992-93 general practitioner fundholders achieved savings of £30 million on budgets totalling about £805 million. The management allowance costs for these fundholders was about £19 million.
Laxatives
Ms Primarolo : To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many deaths are caused by laxatives every year.
Mr. Sackville : No deaths were recorded due to laxative poisoning-- ICD 973.1, 973.2 and 973.3--or due to adverse effects in correct usage--ICD E943.1, E943.2 and E943.3--from 1990 to 1992 in England and Wales.
International Classification of Disease (9th revision).
Diphtheria
Ms Primarolo : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what was the incidence of diphtheria in EC countries in each year since 1991 ; and how many cases of diphtheria have been recorded in each year since 1988 in England and Wales.
Mr. Sackville : The information is shown in the table.
Number of
notifications
reported to Office of
Population Censuses
and
Surveys of Diphtheria
in England and Wales
1988-1992
|Number
----------------------
1988 |1
1989 |2
1990 |2
1991 |2
<1>1992 |8
<1> Data for 1992 are
provisional.
The information relating to European Community countries is not available.
Ms Primarolo : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans she has to introduce a booster vaccination for diphtheria.
Mr. Sackville : We are currently considering the introduction of a booster dose.
Ms Primarolo : To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many deaths from (a) diphtheria and (b) hepatitis B have occurred in the last five years.
Column 893
Mr. Sackville : The information is shown in the table.
|Operating |Anaesthetist's
|fee £ |fee £
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Fee per case of male sterilisation performed
a. As a separate procedure |74.25 |36.65
b. During the course of
another procedure |50.25 |24.30
Fee per case of female sterilisation performed
a. As a separate procedure |100.45 |49.05
b. During the course of
another procedure |67.15 |32.75
Drugs Advertising
Ms Primarolo : To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) which drugs and medicines cannot be advertised by law; and how many deaths are caused each year by such drugs;
(2) what rules govern the advertising of laxatives on television.
Mr. Sackville : Licensed medicines may be advertised under the control of the Medicines Act 1968 and supporting regulations. Those available without prescription may be advertised to the public including by television.
Information on the overall number of deaths caused by drugs is not available.
Water Births
Ms Primarolo : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps the Government are taking, in addition to commissioning the Oxford perinatal epidemiology unit study, to determine the safety for the baby of labour or delivery in water; and if she will make a statement.
Mr. Sackville : The Department is currently considering proposals for research into outcomes for babies whose mothers have delivered or laboured in water and will make a decision as soon as possible.
Tobacco Advertising
Ms Primarolo : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment she has made of the effect in advertising terms of tobacco- sponsored events on television and the effect of banning such indirect advertising on the consumption of cigarettes.
Dr. Mawhinney : The Department of Health discussion document "Effect of tobacco advertising on tobacco consumption" reviewed the available evidence in this area. It made no assessment of either the effect in advertising terms of tobacco sponsored events on television or of the effect of banning indirect advertising on cigarette consumption. Copies of the report, published in October 1992, are available in the Library.
Sterilisation
Ms Primarolo : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what are the present fees to surgeons performing (a) a vasectomy and (b) a female sterilisation procedure in the NHS.
Dr. Mawhinney : The family planning fees effective from 1 April 1994 are :
Column 894
|Operating |Anaesthetist's
|fee £ |fee £
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Fee per case of male sterilisation performed
a. As a separate procedure |74.25 |36.65
b. During the course of
another procedure |50.25 |24.30
Fee per case of female sterilisation performed
a. As a separate procedure |100.45 |49.05
b. During the course of
another procedure |67.15 |32.75
Temazepam
Ms Primarolo : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans she has to ban temazepam capsules.
Mr. Sackville : The licensing authority has no plans to ban temazepam capsules. The matter currently under review by my right hon. and learned Friend the Secretary of State for the Home Department is whether temazepam should be rescheduled under the Misuse of Drugs Regulations 1985.
Psychiatric Beds
Ms Primarolo : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what is the average daily cost to the NHS of using (a) a private psychiatric hospital bed and (b) an NHS psychiatric hospital bed in each of the last five years.
Mr. Bowis : The average daily cost to the national health service of using a NHS psychiatric hospital bed in each of the last five years is shown in the table. The annual accounts and financial returns of health authorities do not separately identify expenditure incurred specifically on the purchase of healthcare outside the NHS.
Average daily cost per patient for psychiatric
specialties
|Directly managed
|units and national
|health service
|trusts-England
|(£)
---------------------------------------------------------
1988-89 |40.14
1989-90 |46.45
1990-91 |51.89
1991-92 |103.44
1992-93 |116.04
Source:
Annual financial returns of health authorities and NHS
trusts.
Notes:
1. Figures for 1992-93 are provisional.
2. Figures for 1988-89 to 1990-91 are not comparable
with later years because:
a. Figures prior to 1991-92 include only direct costs.
From 1991-92 they additionally include:
(i) Overheads
(ii) Capital charges
b. Changes in accounting practice.
Nurse Redundancies
Ms Primarolo : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment she has made of the number of nurses likely to be made redundant by the reorganisation in London health services; and how much money is earmarked for retraining them.
Dr. Mawhinney : The number of redundancies will depend on action taken within individuals trusts and units.
Column 895
An initial sum of £200,000 has been made available for retraining nurses affected by the changes in London. Additionally, the London implementation group is developing retraining programmes for displaced hospital staff who wish to work in primary and community care.National Lottery
Mr. Illsley : To ask the Secretary of State for Health in what circumstances NHS trusts will be allowed to prevent the sale of national lottery tickets from outlets on their premises.
Dr. Mawhinney : This will be a matter for individual national health service trusts.
Column 896
Sex Education
Mrs. Roche : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will list those AIDS, sexual health and sexual education projects funded by the Department of Health together with the size of any grants or loans made by her Department in each year since 1990.
Mr. Sackville : Funding in the area of HIV-AIDS and sexual health falls into two categories, allocations to health and local authorities and to the voluntary sector. These all include a proportion of funds for prevention initiatives. Since 1990 the following amounts have been made available :
Column 895
b
£ million
|1990-91|1991-92|1992-93|1993-94|1994-95
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Health Education Authority/National AIDS helpline |10.00 |11.00 |11.225 |11.506 |<1>-
Health Authorities |127.5 |137.3 |181.5 |214.4 |228.0
Local Authorities |9.8 |10.2 |15.3 |12.4 |12.98
Voluntary Organisations (HIV) |1.80 |1.90 |1.987 |1.927 |1.789
Voluntary Organisations (Sexual Health) |.228 |.253 |.294 |.293 |.283
<1>To be settled.
A list of individual projects is not available centrally.
Mrs. Roche : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will make a statement on the work of her Department, the national health service and the Health education authority to improve the sexual health and sex education of homosexual men and lesbians.
Mr. Sackville : The Government have developed a comprehensive approach to limit the spread of HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases as well as providing treatment and care to those affected. The prevention strategy takes account of a range of sexual behaviours and seeks to discourage practices which carry a risk of HIV infection. The Health Education Authority, national AIDS helpline, voluntary organisations and the national health service all contribute in many ways to this approach.
Nursing Homes
Mr. Hinchliffe : To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many complaints regarding private or voluntary nursing homes were received in each district health authority for each year since the implementation of the Registered Homes Act 1984.
Mr. Bowis : This information is not available centrally.
Mr. Hinchliffe : To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many private or voluntary nursing home beds, and how many private or voluntary nursing homes, were registered with each district health authority for each of the last five years.
Mr. Bowis : This information will be placed in the Library.
Mr. Hinchliffe : To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many whole-time equivalent nursing staff were allocated to registration and inspection duties under the Registered Homes Act 1984 within each district health authority for each of the last five years.
Mr. Sackville : Health authorities are responsible for the registration and inspection of all independent nursing
Column 896
homes in their area. The number of nurses employed on registration and inspection is a decision for each health authority.Dental Services
Mr. Tyler : To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many patients have been deregistered for NHS dentistry treatment in each of the health authority areas within the south West region for the last 52 weeks for which figures are available; and what these totals represent as a proportion of the total population in each case.
Dr. Mawhinney : The information will be placed in the Library. At 30 September 1993 there were 22 more dentists in contract with family health services authorities in South Western region than at 30 September 1992.
Cancer Diagnosis
Ms Primarolo : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what guidelines are in place on the training of general practitioners and nurses in cancer diagnosis.
Dr. Mawhinney : Cancer is recognised as a major cause of morbidity and death. As such the diagnosis and treatment of the various forms of cancer figures prominently in the education and training at all stages of a doctor's career.
Nurses are not trained in the diagnosis of cancer which is a medical responsibility.
Breast Cancer
Ms Primarolo : To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many specialist breast care nurses are employed in the national health service, by region.
Mr. Sackville : There is no specific occupation code for breast care, therefore any nurses working within this area are not separately identifiable.
Column 897
NHS Trusts
Mr. Lidington : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she plans to change the national health service trusts external finance limit for 1993-94.
Dr. Mawhinney : The external finance limit for national health service trusts in England will be increased by £10,993,000 for 1993-94 from £319,013,000 to £330,006,000, reflecting the take up of agreed end year flexibility entitlement. This will be charged to the reserve and therefore will not add to the planned total of public expenditure.
Consultancies
Ms Primarolo : To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much of the money spent on all types of consultancy by her Department in 1992-93 was spent by (a) the national health service management executive, (b) by regional health authorities and (c) by centrally run patient services.
Mr. Sackville [holding answer 28 March 1994] : Expenditure on consultancy funded from the administration vote of the Department for the national health service management executive in 1992-93 was £6, 765,821. Consultancy expenditure incurred from centrally held budgets funded from the hospital and community health services vote is not separately identifiable.
Column 898
ATTORNEY-GENERAL
Joy Gardner Case
Mr. Allen : To ask the Attorney-General when the Crown Prosecution Service will bring forward recommendations on the possible prosecutions of those officers involved in the Joy Gardner case; and if he will make a statement.
The Attorney-General : The Crown Prosecution Service is at present considering the evidence which has been obtained as a result of the recent police investigation. I am not yet able to say when a decision will be taken.
Building Projects
Mr. Redmond : To ask the Attorney-General 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 his Department; and what was the cost of each project to his Department.
|
| Home Page |