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General Practitioners (Practice Lists)
Mr. Hanson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many patients have been removed by general practitioners from their practice lists in England for each of the last five years. [35107]
Mr. Malone: The information required is available only from 1992 and is as follows:
1992-93: 78,993
1993-94: 70,997
1994-95: 82,831
Tuberculosis
Dr. Goodson-Wickes: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if the interdepartmental working group on tuberculosis has completed its report. [36128]
Mr. Horam: Yes. Two reports of the interdepartmental working group on tuberculosis, entitled "Recommendations for the prevention and control of tuberculosis at local level" and "Tuberculosis and homeless people", have been released today. Copies have been placed in the Library.
4 Jul 1996 : Column: 493
Mr. French: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he has completed his consideration of the advice he has received from the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation on the future of the schools Bacillus Calmette-Guerin immunisation programme. [36105]
Mr. Horam: We have accepted fully the advice of the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation that Bacillus Calmette-Guerin should be routinely offered to all schoolchildren between the ages of 10 and 14. The advice we have received from the JCVI is in line with the current recommendation as set out in the Department of Health's memorandum "Immunisation Against Infectious Disease", copies of which are available in the Library. We would therefore expect all health authorities to offer BCG immunisation routinely to school children.
Infant Formulae
Mr. French: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when he will issue guidance on the donation of informational or educational equipment or materials in accordance with section 21(3) of the Infant Formula and Follow-on Formula Regulations 1995. [36106]
Mr. Horam: Draft guidance was issued for public consultation on 2 July, copies of which have been placed in the Library. It contains:
proposed good practice to help ensure that information provided on infant feeding is objective and consistent; and proposed guidelines and criteria on the donation of informational or educational materials by the infant formula industry.
Medicinal Drugs
Mr. Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what action he is taking to reduce the deaths by poisoning attributed to (a) paracetamol, (b) co-proxamol and (c) dotheipin. [35452]
Mr. Malone: No immediate measures additional to those already in place are proposed. Paracetamol co-proxamol and dothiepin are effective drugs which are safe at the dosages recommended on the labelling. The Medicines Control Agency evaluates all new information on the safety of medicines carefully, particularly in relation to the controls on their availability.
Mr. Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what action is he taking to reduce the incidence of adverse reaction to medicinal drugs. [35456]
Mr. Malone: All medicines that are effective have adverse reactions, some minor and some more serious. Effective methods and procedures are in place to reduce the incidence of these in patients taking medicines. Medicines undergo rigorous evaluation of quality, efficacy and safety by the licensing authority, and its expert advisory bodies before being allowed on the market, to ensure that the benefits of medicines outweigh their risks. Product information for doctors and patients give clear instructions on use and provide warnings and precautions on adverse reactions in order to minimise the likelihood and impact of adverse reactions.
4 Jul 1996 : Column: 494
Once marketed, medicines are monitored closely to identify previously unrecognised adverse reactions or changes in their frequency or severity. Effective procedures exist for investigation, expert evaluation and action on identified adverse reactions. Changes are made to a medicine's marketing authorisation and product information to minimise the occurrence and impact of any newly identified adverse reactions. Rarely, when risks are shown to outweigh benefits, a medicine may be withdrawn from the market. Doctors and pharmacists, and patients are informed of the adverse reactions of medicines they use through product information. A bulletin entitled "Current Problems in Pharmacovigilance" is also distributed to doctors and pharmacists quarterly to inform them of new adverse drug reactions and provide advice on the safe use of medicines. For more urgent issues communication by letter and electronic communication network is used.
Ambulance Services
Mr. Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to his answer of 12 June, Official Report, column 89 in which two ambulance services the evaluation was commissioned; and how much is being spent on it. [35453]
Mr. Horam: The evaluation was conducted on Derbyshire Ambulance Service NHS trust and Essex Ambulance Service NHS trust.
The cost of the research was £52,462.
Mr. Austin Mitchell:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many health service commissioners have market tested the provision of ambulance services; and with what results. [35580]
Mr. Horam:
South Staffordshire Health Authority has market tested ambulance services for a part of its area which bordered on Greater Birmingham. The contract was retained by the West Midlands ambulance service.
Mr. Flynn:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the relative physically addictive properties of (a) nicotine, (b) alcohol, (c) heroin, (d) cocaine, (e) ecstasy, (f) benzodiazepines, (g) caffeine and (h) cannabis. [35457]
Mr. Bowis:
There is no scientific scale of "addictiveness" covering all these substances.
Mr. Terry Davis:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health when (a) Biflex Thuasne bandages and (b) Velband bandages were last available on prescription from the national health service; and what alternative bandages are currently available on prescription. [35507]
Mr. Malone:
Biflex Thuasne and Velband bandages have never been available on general practitioner prescription. A number of bandages are available on GP prescription and these are listed in the drug tariff, copies of which will be placed in the Library.
4 Jul 1996 : Column: 495
Mr. Morgan:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to his answer of 1 July, Official Report, column 334 if he will place in the Library a copy of the report of the joint computing group of the British Medical Association and the Royal College of General Practitioners into medical coding and classifications. [35697]
Mr. Horam:
The report will be placed in the Library.
Producer and Supplier Information
Mr. Sheerman: To ask the President of the Board of Trade how many new initiatives his Department has taken in the current year to improve the flow of information between producers and their suppliers. [35476]
Mr. Page: The development of successful partnerships between customers and suppliers is of great importance in promoting the competitiveness of UK industry. The Department works closely with companies, trade associations and others on a wide range of activities and initiatives to encourage this. However, no central record of such supply chain initiatives is held.
British Energy
Mrs. Beckett: To ask the President of the Board of Trade what is the cash value of the liabilities of British Energy that will be met by the segregated fund. [35616]
Mr. Lang: British Energy's expected future payments in respect of nuclear liabilities covered by the segregated fund were approximately £3.7 billion undiscounted, as at March 1996.
Terrorist Damage
Mr. Eastham: To ask the President of the Board of Trade, pursuant to his answer of 27 June, Official Report, column 202, in respect of compensation for terrorist damage, for how many years such insurance has not been available in Northern Ireland. [35526]
Mr. Nelson: Insurance cover for losses arising from damage to industrial and commercial property caused by terrorist activity has been unavailable in Northern Ireland for 22 years.
Barmac
Mr. Charles Kennedy: To ask the President of the Board of Trade, pursuant to his answer of 1 July, Official Report, column 262, if he will detail the outcome of the 24 June meeting in respect of the Barmac N166 site objective 1 application; and if he will make a statement. [35618]
Mr. Eggar: The meeting between officials of the European Commission and my Department was exploratory and to discuss a draft application; no decisions were made. Commission officials indicated what further information would be needed before they could reach a final conclusion.
4 Jul 1996 : Column: 496
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