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South Ayrshire Hospitals NHS Trust
Mr. Donohoe: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what stage the recruitment process for the chief executive of the South Ayrshire Hospitals NHS trust has now reached; how much has been spent on this exercise by the trust; which outside agencies have been appointed to assist in the recruitment process; and when an appointment will be made. [5052]
Lord James Douglas-Hamilton: The closing date for applications was 15 November 1996. The only costs have been in advertising the post. No agencies have been appointed by the trust to assist in the recruitment process. The trust expects that an appointment will be made by the latter part of December 1996.
Mr. Donohoe: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will make it his policy to suspend the recruitment of the chief executive of the South Ayrshire Hospitals NHS trust pending a review of the provision of acute medical services by NHS trusts in Ayrshire. [5053]
Lord James Douglas-Hamilton: No. The recruitment process is a matter for the trust.
Mr. Donohoe: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland who is currently carrying out the duties of the chief executive of the South Ayrshire Hospitals NHS trust. [5055]
Lord James Douglas-Hamilton: Mr. Lindsay C. Tolland is the current acting chief executive.
Acute Medical Services (Ayrshire)
Mr. Donohoe: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will make it his policy to carry out a review of the current provision of acute medical services within the Ayrshire and Arran health board area with a view to the creation of a single acute NHS trust for Ayrshire. [5054]
Lord James Douglas-Hamilton: I have no plans to do so. The organisation of health provision is a matter for the health board and the NHS trusts to agree in accordance with their shared assessment of health needs for the area.
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Mr. Donohoe: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what discussions have taken place between the Scottish Office, the Ayrshire and Arran health board and the South and North Ayrshire NHS trusts relating to the amalgamation of the existing acute NHS trusts to provide a single acute service NHS trust for Ayrshire and Arran. [5050]
Lord James Douglas-Hamilton: There have been no such discussions.
Mr. Donohoe: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what representations the Scottish Office has received in the last three years in respect of the creation of a single acute NHS trust for the Ayrshire and Arran area. [5051]
Lord James Douglas-Hamilton: The only written representations received were from the hon. Member on 27 July and 3 September 1994. The hon. Member also raised the matter during the Scottish Grand Committee debate in Ayr on 10 June 1996.
Kilwinning Plant Closure
Mr. Donohoe: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what types of financial assistance have been given to (a) Robert Wilson and Sons Ltd., (b) Hillsdown Ambient Foods Group Ltd. and (c) their subsidiary companies by his Department during the last five years. [5046]
Mr. George Kynoch: None. An offer of regional selective assistance was made to Robert Wilson and Sons (Est. 1849) Ltd. in March 1995 to assist the installation of new machinery to improve produce quality and to help the company to develop into new markets; however, none of this grant has been claimed.
HEALTH
Edgware General Hospital
Sir John Gorst: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what are the running costs of the minor accident treatment service unit at Edgware general hospital. [3906]
Mr. Malone: The running costs of the minor accident treatment service at Edgware general hospital include overhead costs shared with the accident and emergency department. It is therefore not possible to disaggregate the accurate full costs of the present minor accident treatment service facility.
Dentists (Sunderland)
Mr. Etherington: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many (a) general dental practitioners and (b) community dental practitioners practise dentistry in Sunderland health authority's area. [4417]
Mr. Malone: The information is contained in the table:
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| Number of general dental practitioners(9) (10) (11) at 30 June 1996 | Number of community dentists(12) (13) whole-time equivalent, at 30 September 1995 |
|---|---|
| 88 | 10 |
(9) The number of dentists (principals) on the health authority list and their assistants and vocational trainees.
(10) Some dentists have a contract with more than one health authority. All dentists in Sunderland are included.
(11) Excludes hospital dentists.
(12) Figure for community dentists is whole time equivalent and represents the number of staff allocated by Sunderland health commission, priority Healthcare Wearside NHS trust and City Hospitals Sunderland NHS trust.
(13) Figure is rounded to the nearest 10.
Mental Illness
Mrs. Wise: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of a recent report by the World Health Organisation into the extent of mental illness; and if he will make a statement. [4754]
Mr. Burns: I welcome "Mental Illness in General Health Care", edited by T. B. Uistun and N. Sartorious. It is a very useful contribution to our understanding of the importance of primary health care in the development of mental health services. We are already taking a number of steps to improve the ability of general practitioners to understand, diagnose and manage mental illness.
HIV and AIDS
Mr. Gordon Prentice: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what is the amount allocated for HIV treatment in each NHS trust. [4716]
Mr. Horam: National Health Service trusts receive no central funding for HIV treatment. Funding for HIV treatment, together with all other income, is included in contracts with purchasers.
Environmental Auditing
Mr. Martyn Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list the ways in which his Department has (a) demonstrated by example and (b) promoted externally, the ability to improve efficiency and competitiveness through environmental auditing; and if he will make a statement. [4526]
Mr. Horam: Internally, the Department operates an effective energy and environment action plan which promotes all aspects of green housekeeping and which is regularly reviewed. Additionally, major energy audits of three of the main London buildings were recently undertaken and the majority of recommendations have already been implemented. Externally, contractors for building and office services are required to demonstrate their own environmental policies when invited to tender and their environmental performance is included in our assessment of their tenders.
Guidance to the national health service encourages it to engage in pro-environmental measures and to ensure that the environment is given thorough consideration in the development of policies at all levels. For example the NHS's old inefficient incinerators have been closed down
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and replaced with fewer, modern installations which fully comply with the Environmental Protection Act 1990. As part of the target to reduce energy consumption and stabilise carbon dioxide emissions, the NHS has introduced some 200 combined heat and power installations to make more efficient use of fossil fuel, and one of these provided this Department's case study example in response to the United Kingdom round table on sustainable development.
In 1996, NHS Estates--an executive agency of the Department of Health--introduced an award for the "best environmental initiative" in its health care estate management awards.
Miss Lestor:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans he has to introduce legislation on fostering and adoption in the current Session. [4511]
Mr. Burns:
The Government will introduce adoption legislation as soon as parliamentary time allows. There are no plans to revise fostering legislation at this time.
Miss Emma Nicholson:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health what was the (i) percentage and (ii) amount of the NHS prescription charge received on each prescription by pharmacists in (a) 1979, (b) 1984, (c) 1987, (d) 1992 and (e) 1996. [4506]
Mr. Malone:
The available information is shown in the table.
| Year | Average prescription charge as a percentage of average total cost per prescription | Average total cost per prescription £ | Average prescription charge during the year (see note 2) £ |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1979 | 13 | 2.43 | 0.31 |
| 1984 | 35 | 4.39 | 1.55 |
| 1987 | 43 | 5.46 | 2.35 |
| 1992 | 48 | 7.60 | 3.66 |
| 1995 | 60 | 8.57 | 5.13 |
(14) The data used are obtained from the Prescription Pricing Authority PD1 series of forms and cover all prescriptions dispensed by community pharmacists and appliance contractors in England. The number of prescriptions are based on fees.
(15) The prescription charges used to obtain the average prescription charge during each year was as follows:
1979 : 1 January to 15 July--£0.20, 16 July to 31 December--£0.45; 1984 : 1 January to 31 March--£1.40, 1 April to 31 December--£1.60; 1987 : 1 January to 31 March--£2.20, 1 April to 31 December--£2.40; 1992 : 1 January to 31 March--£3.40, 1 April to 31 December--£3.75; 1995 : 1 January to 31 March--£4.75, 1 April to 31 December--£5.25.
(16) Information for 1996 is not yet available.
Sir Irvine Patnick: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what percentage of all NHS prescriptions issued in Sheffield in the last 12 months for which figures are available were free of charge; and if he will make a statement. [4832]
Mr. Malone: In the area covered by the Sheffield family health services authority, 85 per cent. of prescription items were dispensed free of charge to patients in 1995.
20 Nov 1996 : Column: 598
Miss Nicholson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans he has for the future of resale price maintenance for prescription medicines. [4505]
Mr. John M. Taylor: I have been asked to reply.
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