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Elderly People (Care)
Mr. French: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when he proposes to publish his consultative document on care of the elderly. [24685]
Sperm Counts
Mr. Dafis: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what research has been commissioned by his Department concerning the possible causes of declining sperm counts. [25207]
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Mr. Horam: The main agency through which the Government supports medical and clinical research is the Medical Research Council which receives its grant in aid from the office of my right hon. Friend the President of the Board of Trade. The MRC has recently completed research which suggests that semen quality in the United Kingdom is deteriorating and referred to possible environmental factors. The results of the research were published in the British Medical Journal on 24 February 1996.
Nurses
Mr. Byers: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many (a) registered general nurses and (b) registered mental nurses have qualified in each year since 1986. [25864]
Mr. Horam: The information is not available centrally. I refer the hon. Member to the English National Board for Nursing, Midwifery and Health Visiting annual reports, copies of which are available in the Library.
Methadone Deaths
Mr. Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on deaths from methadone in each of the past five years. [26435]
Mr. Bowis: Methadone is an established substitute drug therapy used internationally to treat people who are opiate dependent. The latest available information on deaths related to drug misuse covering a five-year period is given in the 1994 Home Office Statistical Bulletin "Statistics of Drug Addicts Notified to the Home Office, United Kingdom", 1994, copies of which are available in the Library. The task force set up to review the effectiveness of drug treatment services has examined methadone treatment in detail. We shall publish the report shortly and issue guidance to health authorities later this summer.
We issued guidelines on clinical management 1 to all doctors in 1991 which provided advice on assessing and reviewing a patient's drug problem, including prescribing where appropriate. Copies of the guidelines are available in the Library.
Methadone dispensed for consumption at home, as with any other medicine, should be stored securely and kept out of the reach of children.
Mr. Milburn:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health what work Mr. Nigel Whittaker has undertaken for Ministers or his Department; and on what basis he has been appointed. [26453]
Mr. Horam:
Mr. Nigel Whittaker has been involved, as a member of a two-man team deployed by the Malcolm Hurlston Corporate Consultancy, in preparing a report for the Department of Health on need for 24-hour nursed beds for people with very severe and enduring mental illness who need a high degree of support for long periods. The
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consultancy firm will be undertaking further work for us over the coming year to ensure speedy implementation of this essential element of provision.
Ms Harman:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health if the PFI contracts for the (i) Norfolk and Norwich, (ii) South Buckinghamshire, (iii) Carlisle, (iv) Swindon, (v) North Durham and (vii) Bishop Auckland hospitals have now been signed. [26484]
Mr. Horam:
The contracts for the above schemes are being negotiated between the trusts and their private sector partners.
Mr. Fatchett:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list those companies involved as partners or co-developers in the purchase of the former headquarters of the Yorkshire regional health authority at Harrogate. [21526]
Mr. Malone
[holding answer 19 March 1996]: Dysart Developments Ltd. was the shortlisted organisation whose tender was selected for the development of the new regional office at Durham.
The tender involved Dysart Developments Ltd. being responsible for the developments of the new headquarters building, and for ensuring purchase of the former Yorkshire regional health authority offices. The purchase of the former Yorkshire regional health authority headquarters in Harrogate was completed by Simpart No. 128, later renamed Harrogate and London Properties Ltd.
There were no other partners or co-developers.
Ms Coffey:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will place in the Library a statement on the irregular employment termination payments cited in paragraphs 49, 52 and 53 of the report of the Comptroller and Auditor General "NHS (England) Summarised Accounts 1994-95", including the names of the trusts and health authorities that made irregular settlements, the name and rank of each person in receipt of an irregular settlement, and the date upon which each settlement was made and the date upon which the irregularity of each settlement was brought to the attention of the NHS executive.[21653]
Mr. Barron:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list, as far as possible, the recipients, amounts paid and health service bodies making payments that were uncovered by the departmental trawl of questionable severance cases. [22889]
Mr. Bayley:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list the health authority, the sum of money involved and the date of each of the employment termination settlements mentioned in paragraphs 49, 52 and 53 of the Comptroller and Auditor General's report on the "NHS (England) Summarised Accounts 1994-95". [22989]
Mr. Malone
[holding answer 20 March 1996]: This matter is still under consideration.
Mr. Mudie:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health if
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he will give a breakdown of the 87 employment settlements made by health authorities and deemed irregular by the National Audit Office (a) by health authority and (b) by amount; and if he will list those whose recovery is being sought (i) by health authority and (ii) by amount. [21999]
Mr. Malone
[holding answer 21 March 1996]: This matter is still under consideration.
Mr. Milburn:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to his answer of 21 March, Official Report, column 321, if he will place in the Library a list by region of the 876 properties that are surplus to NHS requirements. [24380]
Mr. Horam
[holding answer 2 April 1996]: It would be premature to publish a list of all those properties currently identified as being possibly for sale over the next ten years.
Changing patterns of health care delivery mean that some properties which are listed are in the planning process and final decisions have not yet been made. These properties have not been transferred to national health service trusts, but may be occupied and utilised by NHS trusts for up to 10 years. They will be offered for sale only at the appropriate time.
All properties which are actually for sale are advertised locally or nationally.
Mr. Simon Hughes:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health what reasons his Department gave to each of the six members of the Committee on Safety of Medicines who were not reappointed as of 1 January for not wishing to reappoint them; and if he will make a statement. [25739]
Mr. Hughes:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many members of the Committee on Safety of Medicines have received honours. [25811]
Mr. Malone:
Four members of the committee hold honours.
Ms Janet Anderson:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate he has made of funding to be made available to his Department through the private finance initiative in (a) 1995-96, (b) 1996-97 and (c) 1997-98.[26176]
Mr. Horam:
Estimates of capital funding made available by the private sector as a result of the private finance initiative were provided at the time of the November 1995 Budget. The information for the Department of Health is reproduced in the list:
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Mr. Keith Hill:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health what research his Department has evaluated on the number and proportion of birth defects to children caused by assaults on their mothers by spouses or partners during pregnancy; and if he will make a statement. [26011]
Notes:
1 Drug Misuse and Dependence: Guidelines on Clinical Management: Report of a Medical Working Group: London: HMSO: 1991: ISBN 011 321376 X.
1995-96: £50 million
1996-97: £170 million
1997-98: £200 million
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