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Water Fluoridation
Mr. Etherington: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list his Department's grants awarded since 1986 to the British Fluoridation Society indicating the purpose of each grant. [12633]
Mr. Malone: The British Fluoridation Society is an organisation of charitable status which exists to promote the artificial fluoridation of water and has assisted the Department in its objective of improving the oral health of the population. The table gives details of grants to the British Fluoridation Society by the Department of Health since 1986.
| Year | £ |
|---|---|
| 1996-97 | (18)117,609 |
| 1995-96 | (18)74,000 |
| 1994-95 | 63,000 |
| 1993-94 | 62,247 |
| 1992-93 | 56,000 |
| 1991-92 | 51,491 |
| 1990-91 | 45,784 |
| 1989-90 | 31,000 |
| 1988-89 | 30,000 |
| 1987-88 | 20,000 |
| 1986-87 | 20,000 |
| 1985-86 | 30,000 |
(18) Additional funding made available to finance individual projects.
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Mr. Etherington: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list the scientific work published since 1990 upon which the Government's advisers have based their recommendations to fluoridate water. [12440]
Mr. Malone: It is not possible to provide a full list of scientific publications used in support of the Government's policy of water fluoridation, given that the policy is based on advice obtained from a variety of sources, some external to the Department of Health, each with its own area of expertise and source material on fluoridation.
Mr. Etherington: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on departmental staff secondments to the British Fluoridation Society since 1986. [12634]
Mr. Malone: No departmental staff have been seconded to the British Fluoridation Society.
Eye Tests
Dr. Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to his answer of 3 December, Official Report, column 640, if he will separately identify the number of NHS eye tests carried out on people aged over 65 years in each year since 1989. [12560]
Mr. Malone: The information requested is as follows:
The estimated number of national health service sight tests received by people aged over 65 years in Great Britain.
Information on the age of people who received NHS eye tests between 1989 and 1992 is not available.
1993-94: 1.428 million
1994-95: 1.773 million
1995-96: 1.711 million
Mental Health Services
Dr. Lynne Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Health by what means the NHS executive monitors the implementation of the care programme approach for those patients discharged from psychiatric hospitals in under one week. [12604]
Mr. Burns: I refer the hon. Member to the reply that I gave her on 11 December 1996, Official Report, column 227.
Dr. Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will provide additional funding to the NHS for hospital care and aftercare for mentally disordered prisoners. [12603]
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Mr. Burns: We have provided an additional £15 million for health authorities for 1997-98 for the care of mentally disordered offenders. Health authorities will be expected to provide support on the basis of £1 for every £2 of central funding, making £22.5 million in total. In addition, an extra £5 million has been allocated to health authorities for the current financial year for acute mental illness and this will include care for mentally disordered offenders.
Dr. Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many extra-contractual referrals of mentally ill patients to private hospitals (a) for England and (b) by region there were in each year since 1986. [12601]
Mr. Burns: This information is not available centrally.
Hospital Long-stay Beds
Mr. Battle: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will list the number of long-term continuing care beds per health authority in the Northern and Yorkshire region separately identifying long-stay (a) geriatric and (b) medical beds. [12479]
Mr. Horam: Information is not available centrally in the form requested. The information that is available centrally is contained in "Bed availability in England", copies of which are available in the Library.
Breast Cancer Screening
Mr. Hinchliffe: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what is his policy towards the availability of mammograms for persons aged 50 years and over within the national health service; and if he will make a statement. [12558]
Mr. Horam: The national health service breast screening programme invites women aged 50 to 64 years for breast screening by mammography once every three years. Women aged 65 and over may continue to be screened every three years on request. In 1994-95--the latest available figures--more than 1 million women in England aged 50 and over were screened by the programme with over 5,000 cases of cancer detected.
We have no plans to extend the programme to include men, in whom there are a very small number of cases of breast cancer--under 200 per year.
Symptomatic women of any age can request a mammogram at any time, in discussion with their general practitioner.
Mr. Sheerman:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many paediatric intensive care beds are currently available in the Northern and Yorkshire region; and how many there were in 1992. [12946]
Mr. Horam:
Information on the availability of paediatric intensive care beds is being collected routinely for the first time in 1996-97. Such data are not available for 1992. A recent special bed survey identified 17 general and 14 specialist paediatric intensive care beds in the Northern and Yorkshire region. This includes three
28 Jan 1997 : Column: 165
additional general paediatric intensive care beds opened this winter.
Mr. Chris Smith:
To ask the Secretary of State for
28 Jan 1997 : Column: 166
Health how many (a) career grade doctors in hospital service and (b) general practitioner principals there were in each year since 1988. [13215]
Mr. Malone:
The information requested is provided in the following tables:
| 1988 | 1989 | 1990 | 1991 | 1992 | 1993 | 1994 | 1995 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Consultant | 13,200 | 13,670 | 14,190 | 14,500 | 14,850 | 15,210 | 15,640 | 16,930 |
| Staff grade(19) | -- | 30 | 250 | 470 | 710 | 1,050 | 1,240 | 1,640 |
| Associate specialist | 660 | 670 | 740 | 760 | 770 | 840 | 820 | 940 |
| Total | 13,870 | 14,370 | 15,180 | 15,730 | 16,330 | 17,100 | 17,690 | 19,500 |
(19) This was a new grade introduced in 1989. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10.
N.B. Hospital practitioners and clinical assistants data are not given as most of these are general practitioners.
Source:
The Department of Health Medical and Dental Workforce Census.
28 Jan 1997 : Column: 165
28 Jan 1997 : Column: 165
| Year | Unrestricted principals |
|---|---|
| 1988 | 25,322 |
| 1989 | 25,608 |
| 1990 | 25,662 |
| 1991 | 25,686 |
| 1992 | 25,968 |
| 1993 | 26,289 |
| 1994 | 26,567 |
| 1995 | 26,702 |
Source:
GMS statistics.
Note:
An unrestricted principal is a practitioner who provides the full range of general medical services and whose list is not limited to any particular group of persons. The figures provided for unrestricted principals are not whole time equivalents and include part-timers, returners and salaried partners.
Medical Services (Commercial Organisations)
Mr. Chris Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many commercial organisations have expressed an interest in involvement in the provision of general medical services under the proposals of the Primary Care Bill. [13214]
Mr. Malone: The Department has received one informal expression of interest from a commercial organisation.
Breast Implants
Mr. Betts: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what clinical trials he (a) commissioned and (b) evaluated on silicone gel-filled breast implants, prior to their being made available on the national health service. [13080]
Mr. Horam: No clinical trials on silicone gel-filled breast implants were commissioned or evaluated by the Department of Health prior to their being made available to the national health service.
Mr. Betts: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) how many British women have received breast implants filled with silicone gel (a) in private practices and (b) on the national health service; [13075]
28 Jan 1997 : Column: 166
- (2) how many breast implants filled with silicone gel have been implanted since their introduction to Britain (a) in private practices and (b) on the national health service. [13074]
Mr. Horam: The information requested is not available centrally.
Mr. Betts: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment his Department made of the decision by the United States Food and Drug Administration in April 1992 to restrict the use of breast implants filled with silicone gel. [13073]
Mr. Horam: The Department of Health made no assessment of the decision by the United States Food and Drug Administration, but independently set up an expert advisory group in 1992 to examine all evidence relating to breast implants and connective tissue disease. The group concluded that, on the basis of all data available at that time, there was no evidence of an increased incidence of connective tissue disease associated with silicone gel breast implants. It therefore saw no reason to alter current practice or policy in the UK, and endorses these conclusions following an updated review of all data available in 1994.
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