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Skin Diseases
Mr. Dalyell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what action he is taking to speed up treatment of dermatologically related diseases. [13451]
Mr. Horam: The organisation of health services and the manner in which they are delivered are matters for health authorities in their role as purchasers of services for their populations.
However, my Department is aware of a few commercial projects in their very early stages which use televisual means in an effort to help deal with the workload in dealing with skin conditions. I understand that the process involves the general practitioner sending an e-mail picture of the patient's skin condition to a consultant dermatologist along with clinical details. The consultant can review the pictures in his own time and either give advice to the GP on management with suitable protocols or suggest a live consultation.
Prescription Costs
Mr. Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list the annual average cost of prescriptions per patient prescribed by (a) general practitioner fundholders and (b) non-fundholding general practitioners for each year since the introduction of fundholding for which the figures are available for (i) England, (ii) each regional health authority and (iii) each family health service authority. [14967]
Mr. Malone: The available information is shown in the table.
| GP fundholders | Non GP fundholders | |
|---|---|---|
| 1991-92 | 9.23 | 9.71 |
| 1992-93 | 10.35 | 10.91 |
| 1993-94 | 11.47 | 12.05 |
| 1994-95 | 12.56 | 13.07 |
| 1995-96 (to Q2) | 13.04 | 13.62 |
1. NIC/PU = net ingredient cost per prescribing unit.
2. NIC is essentially the cost of prescriptions before allowing for pharmacists' discounts and container costs.
3. PUs are a weighting used to adjust for the higher cost of drugs for older people. Each person counts as one PU for under 65-year-olds, three PUs for 65-year-olds and older.
4. The two groups (fundholding GPs/non-fundholding GPs) are not exclusive--during the period, some non fundholders will have become fundholding and vice versa.
13 Feb 1996 : Column: 563
Patient De-registration
Mr. Llew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many patients have been removed from registration with their local general practitioner in each of the past five years. [13450]
Mr. Malone: I refer the hon. Member to the reply that I gave to the hon. Member for Castle Point (Dr. Spink) and to the hon. Member for Darlington (Mr. Milburn) on 2 November 1995, Official Report, column 457.
Oral Contraceptives
Mr. Simon Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what reports have been received via the yellow card system regarding women who have been switched from combined oral contraceptives containing desogestrel or gestodene since 18 October 1995; and what assessment the licensing authority has made of such reports. [12978]
Mr. Malone [holding answer 8 February 1996]: Ten reports of suspected adverse reactions have been received on yellow cards occurring in women who switched from oral contraceptives containing desogestrel or gestodene since 18 October 1995. These have been assessed by the Medicines Control Agency according to its normal procedures.
SCOTLAND
EU Funding
Mrs. Ray Michie: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland (1) what is the total expenditure allocated to date from European Union objective 1 funding for the highlands and islands; and if he will make a statement; [11587]
- (2) if he will list the projects that have been approved for European Union objective 1 funding for the highlands and islands since January 1995 for (a) the European regional development fund and (b) the European social fund; what expenditure was approved for each project; and what was the total expenditure; [11585]
(3) which successful applications for European Union objective 1 funding for the highlands and islands are located in Argyll and Bute; and what was the expenditure approved for each project. [11586]
Mr. Kynoch: The total expenditure committed up to the end of January 1996 is £164 million. This is made up by £129 million, ERDF; £30.5 million, ESF; and £4.5 million, EAGGF--European agricultural guidance and guarantee fund--and FIFG--financial instrument of fisheries guidance. As the information requested is somewhat lengthy, I have arranged for the details to be placed in the House Library.
Mr. Wilson: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will list the projects which have been approved for objective 1 funding in the highlands and islands, stating the amount in each case. [11607]
Mr. Kynoch
[holding answer 1 February 1996]: The total expenditure committed up to the end of January 1996 is £164 million. This is made up by £129 million, ERDF;
13 Feb 1996 : Column: 564
£30.5 million, ESF; and £4.5 million, EAGGF and FIFG. As the information requested is somewhat lengthy I have arranged for the details to be placed in the House Library.
Mr. Dafis:
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many full-time members of staff are currently employed at each of the Scottish Office Agriculture Department's divisional offices. [12305]
Mr. Michael Forsyth:
The number of full-time staff employed in the agricultural divisions of the Scottish Office Agriculture, Environment and Fisheries Department who are working at locations outwith Edinburgh is shown in the table, which reflects the position as at 1 January 1996.
| Location | Permanent | Casual | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ayr | 40 | 2 | 42 |
| Benbecula | 8 | -- | 8 |
| Dumfries | 35 | 2 | 37 |
| Dundee | 28 | 1 | 29 |
| Elgin | 4 | -- | 4 |
| Galashiels | 31 | 3 | 34 |
| Glasgow | 12 | -- | 12 |
| Hamilton | 6 | 2 | 8 |
| Inverness | 50 | 1 | 51 |
| Kirkwall | 17 | -- | 17 |
| Lairg | 5 | -- | 5 |
| Lerwick | 11 | 1 | 12 |
| Oban | 22 | -- | 22 |
| Perth | 32 | 2 | 34 |
| Portree | 9 | -- | 0 |
| Stirling | 12 | 3 | 15 |
| Stornoway | 14 | 3 | 17 |
| Thainstone | 56 | 3 | 59 |
| Thurso | 16 | -- | 16 |
| Totals | 408 | 23 | 431 |
School Boards
Mr. Donohoe: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how much his Department has spent on the administration, promotion, support and establishment of school boards in Scotland in each academic year since their establishment. [12504]
Mr. Raymond S. Robertson: School boards were established for the first time during the financial year 1989-90. Departmental expenditure, by financial year, is as follows.
| Expenditure | |
|---|---|
| Financial year | £ |
| 1989-90 | 1,737,000 |
| 1990-91 | 51,000 |
| 1991-92 | 308,000 |
| 1992-93 | 91,000 |
| 1993-94 | 157,000 |
| 1994-95 | 68,000 |
| 1995-96 | (20)40,000 |
(20) Expenditure to 31 January 1996.
13 Feb 1996 : Column: 565
Child Day-care Facilities
Mr. Kirkwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland (1) if he will conduct a survey of all child day-care facilities with a view to determining whether registration and inspection criteria are being carried out by local authorities in any way which encourages provision of places; [14225]
(2) if he will conduct a survey of child day-care facilities to ensure that local authorities are interpreting the registration and inspection duties laid on them in a reasonable way. [14226]
Lord James Douglas-Hamilton: My right hon. Friend does not have any plans for such surveys.
Mr. Kirkwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland (1) when he expects to revise the guidance issued to local authorities in 1991 on regulation and review of childminding and day-care services for children under the Children Act 1989; [14278]
- (2) if he will update the bibliography referred to in section 3 of annex 4 in the guidance on child care issued to local authorities in 1991. [14279]
Lord James Douglas-Hamilton: My right hon. Friend intends to revise and update the guidance to take account of an amendment made to the Children Act 1989 by the Children (Scotland) Act 1995 and further amendments planned to the 1989 Act which relate to supervised activities and holiday play schemes.
Mr. Kirkwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland to what extend parental consent to derogation from guideline standards for child care facilities will be taken into account in issuing local authority certificates of registration of day-care premises. [14227]
Lord James Douglas-Hamilton: Under the Children Act 1989, local authorities are under duty to register suitable providers of day-care for young children. Registration provides a framework to protect children and to ensure that services meet acceptable standards. It also reassures parents who arrange day-care for their children by others. In deciding whether to register applicants, local authorities are responsible for setting appropriate and consistent standards, taking account of central guidance. It would not be practicable to consult individual parents who may use different facilities from time to time about whether lower standards should be set in their facilities.
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