| Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
NHS Administrative Salaries
Ms Harman: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what was the total remuneration of NHS district health authorities' general managers for 1990. [15197]
Mr. Malone: The salaries and wages costs of general managers in district health authorities for 1990-91 was £11,363,000. This figure includes employers' national insurance and superannuation contributions.
Mr. Andrew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what were the running costs of the blood service in (a) 1993-94 and (b) 1994-95; what is the estimated outturn for 1995-96; and how much they are forecast to be in the next three financial years. [15651]
Mr. Horam: The costs of 1994-95 are estimated to be £153 million. Details of the expected out-turn of the national blood service for the years 1995-96 to 1998-99 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. The figure for 1993-94 is not available because the costs of the blood service were not identified separately in NHS summarised accounts.
Dioxin Emissions
Mr. Fisher: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what research he has (a) commissioned and (b) evaluated on the relationship between the emissions of dioxins from incinerators with levels of (i) cancer and (ii) infertility. [15655]
Mr. Horam: The Department of Health, with other Government Departments, funds the small area health statistics unit--SAHSU--located at the London school of hygiene and tropical medicine. The SAHSU has carried out a study of cancer incidence near municipal solid waste incinerators, although it did not include measures of exposure to dioxins. The report of this study will be published in the March 1996 issue of the British Journal of Cancer.
The health effects of dioxins are also regularly reviewed by expert committees which advise the Government. These include the Committee on the Toxicity of Chemicals in Food, Consumer Products and the Environment, and the Committee on Carcinogenicity of Chemicals in Food, Consumer Products and the Environment.
Adrenoleukodystrophy
Mr. Peter Griffiths:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what guidelines are currently issued by his Department to hospital trusts to ensure that blood relatives of persons diagnosed as suffering from adrenoleukodystrophy are informed and offered suitable advice; [15537]
20 Feb 1996 : Column: 95
Mr. Horam:
Guidelines "Population Needs and Genetic Services" were issued to health authorities in June 1993 under the cover of a letter from the chief medical officer and chief nursing officer entitled "Services for Genetic Disorders". The guidelines set out the principles of good practice in respect of informing and offering suitable advice to relatives of persons diagnosed as suffering from heritable disorders such as adrenoleukodystrophy.
Mr. Peter Griffiths:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health what are the most common genetic deficiency conditions; what are the known numbers of (a) carriers and (b) sufferers from subsequent diseases; and in each case what percentage is (i) female and (ii) male. [15538]
Mr. Horam:
The most common genetic deficiency disease--genetic disorder--in the United Kingdom is cystic fibrosis. The disease occurs in one in 2,000 children born, and approximately one in 25 of healthy adults carry a defective gene concerned with this condition.
All other genetic disorders are rarer. There are some 4,000 different such disorders known. Those reported to have birth frequency of 1:5,000 or more, are:
Mr. Nigel Jones:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health what was the annual cost to each local authority social services department of placing young offenders in secure accommodation for each year since 1988. [15438]
Mr. Bowis:
Data for 1994-95 are not yet complete; corresponding information for earlier years was not collected centrally.
Mr. Llew Smith:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what assessment he plans to make of the research and conclusions of Professor Denis Henshaw's study on the potential cancer risks of high voltage power lines; [15973]
Mr. Marlow:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on the report of Professor Denis Henshaw on the relationship between electromagnetic fields and cancers. [15844]
Mr. Horam:
The National Radiological Protection Board--NRPB--considers that the suggested mechanism put forward in the report by which electromagnetic fields
20 Feb 1996 : Column: 96
in interaction with radon leads to an increased risk of cancer is implausible. The board advises that the weight of the evidence would suggest that the presence of such fields would, if anything, slightly reduce human exposure to radon daughters. In addition, the board has advised that there is no convincing evidence that electromagnetic fields are a cause of cancer and that no biological mechanism has been established in support of this hypothesis.
The NRPB currently has an active programme on the possible effects of electromagnetic fields and health and is funding experimental work in United Kingdom universities and supporting the UK childhood cancer study, which is examining a range of factors that may be implicated in childhood cancer, including the possible effect of electromagnetic fields. The Department will continue to monitor the results of emerging research closely, and to maintain its support for research in these areas, consulting NRPB and the committee on medical aspects of radiation in the environment as necessary.
Mr. Elletson:
To ask the Secretary of State forn Health what financial arrangements are being made for the NHS trusts dissolved on 1 April 1995. [16610]
Mr. Dorrell:
Pursuant to the dissolution of eight national health service trusts on 1 April 1995, and their reconfiguration with parts, or all, of other trusts or directly managed units, I propose to create new originating debt for the five new trusts equal to the net assets transferred to them and therefore to remit the outstanding debt on seven dissolved trusts. The eighth dissolved trust has merged with another trust and the debt associated with that dissolved trust has been transferred to the trust with which it has merged. These operations involve no loss to the Exchequer. Her Majesty's Treasury has today presented a minute to the House giving the particulars and circumstances of the proposed remission which it has approved in principle.
Ms Coffey:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many appointments have been made of chairmen of the new health authorities; and what percentage of those appointments are women. [15575]
Mr. Malone:
Chairmen have been identified for 99 of the 100 proposed health authorities. Forty-two per cent. of the chairmen are women.
Mr. Tipping:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what steps he has taken to ensure that beta interferon is available on a consistent basis nationally; [15637]
Mr. Malone:
Executive letter (95)97 issued in November suggested that beta interferon should be prescribed by hospital neurologists to treat multiple sclerosis where clinically appropriate and within local agreements between health authorities and hospitals. The
20 Feb 1996 : Column: 97
guidance was accompanied by clinical advice from the Standing Medical Advisory Committee. Copies of both documents are available in the Library.
Mr. Tipping:
To ask the Secretary of States for Health what extra resources he has made available to health authorities to enable beta interferon to be available to patients. [15638]
Mr. Malone:
As with other hospital-prescribed drugs, the costs of prescribing beta interferon are expected to be met from within health authority general allocations, having regard to local priorities. These allocations take account of overall cost pressures and potential efficiency and other savings within the national health service.
(2) if he will issue guidelines to hospital trusts on the procedures for the notification of blood relatives when a case of genetic deficiency syndrome is first diagnosed. [15539]
Information on the number of carriers and sufferers from subsequent diseases, and on the percentage of female and male in these categories is not available centrally.
Huntington's disease
Adult polycystic kidney disease
Familial hypercholesterolaemia
Neurofibromatosis
Retinitis pigmentosa
Sickle cell disease in Afro-Caribbeans
Thalassaemia in those of Cypriot, Indian, Pakistani origin
Fragile X syndrome
(2) what advice has been issued to health authorities about the prescribing of beta interferon; if he will place copies of correspondence on that advice in the Library; and if he will make a statement. [15636]
| Next Section | Index | Home Page |