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Public Bodies

Mr. Ingram: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) how much has been spent to date on the prior options review of the National Institute for Biological Standards and Control; and from which budget these sums were paid; [10090]

(2) how much has been spent to date on the prior options review of the Public Health Laboratory Service; from which budget these sums were paid. [10082]

Mr. Horam: Work on this and similar reviews has principally involved staff in the Department of Health and several other Government Departments, and it is not possible to quantify the related costs. Expenditure on consultancy costs was £7,000.

Mr. Ingram: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much has been spent to date on the prior options review of the National Radiological Protection Board; and from which budget these sums were paid. [10086]

Mr. Horam: Work on this and similar reviews has principally involved staff in the Department of Health and several other Government Departments, and it is not possible to quantify the related costs. Expenditure on consultancy costs was £26,614.

Mr. Ingram: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) how many (a) United Kingdom, (b) European and (c) international committees include employees of the National Institute for Biological Standards and Control as representative of United Kingdom interests; and how many of these employees are leading the United Kingdom team on their committee; [10092]

(2) how many (a) United Kingdom, (b) European and (c) international committees are chaired by employees of the National Institute for Biological Standards and Control. [10093]

Mr. Horam: Employees of the National Institute for Biological Standards and Control serve as the chair or vice-chair of the United Kingdom committee, three European committees and three international committees; serve as United Kingdom representatives on four European committees and one international committee; and lead a United Kingdom team on one European and one international committee.

Mr. Ingram: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) how many (a) United Kingdom, (b) European and (c) international committees include employees of the Public Health Laboratory Service as representatives of United Kingdom interests; and how many of these employees are leading the United Kingdom team on their committee; [10084]

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(2) how many (a) United Kingdom, (b) European and (c) international committees are chaired by employees of the Public Health Laboratory Service. [10085]

Mr. Horam: No employees of the Public Health Laboratory service chair, or serve on United Kingdom, European or international committees as representatives of United Kingdom interests, or as leaders of a United Kingdom team.

Mr. Ingram: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) how many (a) United Kingdom, (b) European and (c) international committees include employees of the National Radiological Protection Board as representatives of United Kingdom interests; and how many of these employees are leading the United Kingdom team on their committee; [10088]

(2) how many (a) United Kingdom, (b) European and (c) international committees are chaired by employees of the National Radiological Protection Board. [10089]

Mr. Horam: Employees of the National Radiological Protection Board serve as the chair of four United Kingdom committees, one European committee and six international committees; serve as United Kingdom representatives on one European committee and four international committees; and lead a United Kingdom team on one European committee.

Mr. Ingram: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what estimate he has made of the future costs of the prior options review of the National Institute for Biological Standards and Control; and from which budget these sums will be paid; [10091]

(2) what estimate he has made of the future costs of the prior options review of the Public Health Laboratory Service; and from which budget these sums will be paid; [10083]

(3) what estimate he has made of the future costs of the prior options review of the National Radiological Protection Board; and from which budget these will be paid. [10087]

Mr. Horam: The reviews were completed on 31 December 1996. Any implementation costs will depend on decisions which have not yet been taken.

NHS Expenditure

Mr. Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) if he will estimate how much will be spent on accident and emergency departments in the financial year 1997-98 (a) nationally and (b) in the west midlands; and what will be the percentage change from the previous year; [10248]

(2) how much the Government plan to spend on intensive treatment units in the financial year 1997-98 (a) nationally and (b) in the west midlands; and what will be the percentage change from the previous year; [10249]

(3) what estimate he has made of expenditure on (i) non-surgical and (ii) surgical departments in financial year 1997-98 (a) nationally and (b) in the west midlands (1) in cash terms and (2) as a percentage change on the previous year; [10311]

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(4) what estimate he has made of expenditure on (i) geriatric care and (ii) cancer treatments in financial year 1997-98 (a) nationally and (b) in the west midlands; (1) in cash terms and (2) as a percentage change on the previous year. [10312]

Mr. Horam: It is not possible to provide precise estimates of expenditure on specific services for future years. Health authorities' general allocations are not hypothecated and it is for individual health authorities and general practitioner fundholders to use their funds to respond to the health needs of their local populations; spending on specific services can be determined accurately only in retrospect once health authority and trust accounts have been completed.

Geriatric Care

Mr. Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much was spent on geriatric care in each year since 1992 (a) nationally and (b) in the west midlands; and what was the percentage change from the previous year in each case. [10247]

Mr. Burns: The figures given are for the money spent on the specialty of geriatric care within the national health service--the definition of which is care which is led by a consultant geriatrician. The figures reflect the shift in expenditure from acute-based care which is defined under the term geriatric care towards care provided in community-based settings.

Total NHS expenditure on persons 65 and over is far higher than the expenditure on the narrow geriatric care definition and includes significant proportions of expenditure for the elderly mentally ill and other community services. In 1992-93 we estimate that spending on persons over 65 accounted for some £8,530 million rising to £9,190 million in 1994-95. This accounts for some 42 per cent. of hospital and community health services expenditure, even though people over 65 account for only 16 per cent. of the population.

NHS trust expenditure on geriatric care in England and west midlands region in each year since 1992 is as follows:

	England		West Midlands
Financial year	Spend £000	Percentage change from previous year	Spend £000	Percentage change from previous year
1992-93	1,531,258	3.8	149,423	13.8
1993-94	1,493,311	-2.5	150,537	0.8
1994-95	1,422,867	-4.7	135,994	-9.7
1995-96	1,365,688	-4.0	122,564	-9.9

Notes:

1. 1995-96 information is provisional.

2. Expenditure on geriatric care is for the consultant specialty of geriatrics (in and out patient) and geriatric day care only.

Source:

1. The annual financial returns of NHS trusts.

2. The annual financial returns of the directly managed units of health authorities.

3. The annual financial returns of the special health authorities of the London postgraduate teaching hospitals.

"The House Party"

Mr. Brazier: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much public money has been invested in the game

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"The House Party"; and what assessment he has made of the appropriateness of his Department funding such a project. [9883]

Mr. Horam: The Department of Health has neither seen nor funded "The House Party", nor had any involvement in its production.

Stroke

Mr. Gunnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what information her Department (a) collates centrally, (b) seeks from the regional offices, (c) seeks from health authorities and (d) seeks from each national health service trust in order to determine performance in relation to "The Health of the Nation" targets concerning (i) the incidence of stroke and (ii) acute treatment for those who have had strokes. [10250]

Mr. Horam: The relevant "Health of the Nation" targets concern mortality. This is monitored by death registration data from the Office for National Statistics at national, regional and health authority level and by the number of deaths from stroke in hospital at health authority level from the Department's common information core.

There is no single measure of the incidence of stroke.

Incidence of stroke can be estimated from the patient consultations with general practitioners for stroke, measured through the morbidity statistics from general practice and the weekly returns of the Royal College of General Practitioners. These estimates are collected from a sample of GPs in England and Wales and are present as total figures for England and Wales.

Hospital episodes where stroke is diagnosed can be identified from the department's hospital episode statistics system. The information can be aggregated to trust, health authority, regional and national level. However not all patients with stroke will be admitted to hospital.

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