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Deregulation
Mr. Steen:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the answer of 30 January, Official Report, column 715, what factors led to the introduction of the
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Deregulation (Still Birth and Death Registration) Order 1996; and what account was taken of the additional expenditure burden on local authorities. [14043]
Mr. Horam:
The White Paper "Registration: proposals for change" (Cm 939), published in 1990, recommended that it should be possible to register a death or still birth by means of a declaration made in a sub-district other than the one in which the death or still birth occurred. In 1995, my hon. Friend the Member for Erewash (Mrs. Knight) introduced a ten-minute Bill to give effect to these changes. The Bill failed to gain a Second Reading because of the pressure on parliamentary time. Finally, I am advised by the Registrar General that he has received many letters over the years from members of the public urging him to implement this particular proposal.
There was also significant support amongst those consulted about the proposed deregulation order, including the local authority associations, for introducing the measure. It was acknowledged that the likely take-up of the facility for giving a declaration would be minimal. It was felt that the improvement to the service offered to the bereaved would far outweigh the burden of the small amount of any additional postage and telephone costs.
Mr. Garrett:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made as to whether the proposed location of the planned Colney hospital in south Norfolk is in accordance with the advice in the Department of the Environment planning policy guidance notes 6 and 13. [15089]
Mr. Horam:
This is a local matter. Planning permission for any hospital development has to be obtained from the local planning authority, which must take account of the contents of planning policy guidance notes. The planning application is a matter between the local authority and the trust.
Mr. Garrett:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) how much of the West Norwich hospital will be retained by the Norfolk Mental Health Care trust; what investment is proposed there; what parts of the West Norwich hospital will be closed by the Norfolk and Norwich Health Care trust if the proposed Colney hospital is constructed in South Norfolk district; and how much of the site is intended to be redeveloped; [15090]
(3) what is the estimated cost of the proposed Colney hospital in Norwich; what is the expected annual cost to the NHS of the use of the hospital if provided by the private sector; and what expenditure on planning, design and site acquisition has been undertaken by the Norfolk and Norwich health care trust or its predecessor since the site was first identified; [15144]
(4) what plans there were to retain the Norfolk and Norwich hospital at the time of the Colney hospital public inquiry in 1988; and if it was described as a second district hospital; [15145]
(5) how many beds are provided in the existing NHS hospitals in Norwich, excluding Norfolk mental health care trust beds; how many beds will be retained within
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Mr. Horam:
The provision of local services is a matter for local managers. The hon. Member may wish to contact Sir Stuart Burgess, chairman of Anglia and Oxford regional health authority, for details of the proposals.
Norfolk and Norwich Health Care national health service trust submitted its formal business case for building a new hospital at the end of January. Given the size of the proposed project, the business case will be considered by officials at both the NHS executive and HM Treasury before it is passed to Ministers for final approval. I cannot comment further until all aspects of the business case have been fully considered.
Mr. Andrew Smith:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health what were the running costs of the National Blood Authority in (a) 1993-94 and (b) 1994-95; what is the estimated outturn for 1995-96; and how much they are expected to be in the next three financial years. [15354]
Mr. Horam:
The published accounts of the National Blood Authority do not identify the cost of the headquarters organisation separately from those of the rest of the National Blood Service.
Mr. Smith:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health what additional costs and savings are expected to result from the reorganisation of the operations of the National Blood Authority; and what will be their principal sources. [15353]
Mr. Horam:
Details of the estimated costs and savings from the reorganisation of the National Blood Service and their sources are set out in the document "Plans for the Future of the National Blood Service" of November 1995, copies of which are available in the Library.
Mr. Smith:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health what proportion of bills were paid by the National Blood Authority within 30 days of receipt on (a) 1993-94 and (b) 1994-95. [15355]
Mr. Horam:
This information is not available centrally.
Mr. Andrew Smith:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health what is his policy towards the sale of blood products to overseas customers. [15343]
Mr. Horam:
The National Blood Authority may sell surplus blood products on a cost-recovery basis to any other country after national health service demand has been satisfied. This avoids waste of a valuable resource and keeps down costs to the NHS. The alternative would be destruction.
Mr. Andrew Smith:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health if the price charged to hospitals in Oxford for blood products following reorganisation of the blood service will contain an additional charge to reflect the
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costs of transporting blood to and from the regional centres at Birmingham, Bristol or Southampton. [15352]
Mr. Horam:
Charges paid by hospitals reflect the costs of collecting, processing, storing and distributing blood.
The document "Plans for the Future of the National Blood Service" of November 1995, copies of which are available in the Library, recognises that relocating bulk processing and testing of blood away from Oxford and some other blood centres to other such centres will lead to some increases in transport costs, but it also points out that these extra costs will be more than offset by savings arising from the reorganisation of the service.
Mr. Alex Carlile:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on the definitions of gender dysphoria syndrome recognised within the NHS. [15227]
Mr. Bowis:
This syndrome is described in ICD 10--Classification of Mental and Behavioural Disorder--under code F66.1 egodystonic sexual orientation and would be recognised by clinicians.
Mr. Carlile:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) how many diagnosed cases of gender identity disorder there are in the United Kingdom broken down to show (i) male-to-female and (ii) female-to-male trans-sexuals; if he will indicate the statistical assumptions underlying his calculation; and if he will make a statement; [15228]
(2) how many citizens are currently being treated for gender identity dysphoria by the NHS; and if he will make a statement. [15229]
Mr. Bowis:
This information is not available centrally.
Ms Hodge:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will publish list D data on prescribing records from 1991 onwards. [15225]
Mr. Malone:
The Department has a duty of confidence relating to the use of information derived from patient records and, following our usual practice, the information requested cannot be supplied at the level of detail of list D data because it is confidential.
Mr. Malcolm Bruce:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) if he will allow staff of the former St. Charles youth treatment centre in Brentwood, Essex, to continue occupation of their homes until an alternative use for the site is found; what plans he has to allow local homeless people to use accommodation on the same site on an interim basis; and if he will make a statement; [15374]
Mr. Bowis:
No decisions have yet been taken on the future use of the site of the former St. Charles youth treatment centre.
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(2) if his Department has received a business plan for the proposed Colney hospital, South Norfolk district; and if he has yet responded; [15143]
the city of Norwich after the construction of Colney hospital; and how many beds will be provided at the proposed Colney hospital. [15146]
(2) what plans he has for the use of the site and buildings of the former St. Charles youth treatment centre in Brentwood, Essex; and if he will make a statement. [15373]
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