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Public Appointments
23. Mr. Foulkes: To ask the Secretary of State for Health for how many appointments to boards, trusts and other guangos he is responsible. [14751]
Mr. Malone:
The Cabinet Office publication "Public Bodies 1996" lists health bodies to which appointments are made by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Health. Copies are available in the Library. In
18 Feb 1997 : Column: 539
addition, my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State also makes 138 appointments to boards of hospital special trustees.
24. Mr. Corston:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many patients in the South and West region in the past 12 months have had their operations cancelled (a) on the day they were due to go into hospital and (b) after admission. [14752]
Mr. Horam:
Information is available in the Library on operations cancelled for non-medical reasons on the day a patient is due to be admitted, or after admission, and who are not given a new date within one month of the cancellation.
25. Dr. Lynne Jones:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health what progress is being made towards reaching the "Health of the Nation" target relating to deaths from heart attack. [14753]
Mr. Horam:
Progress towards the "Health of the Nation" targets to reduce deaths from coronary heart disease is encouraging. The latest data show that between 1989-90-91 and 1993-94-95, death rates fell by 19.2 per cent. for people aged under 65 and by 12.5 per cent. for people aged 65 to 74.
26. Mr. Jim Marshall:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on the cost of the internal market in the NHS. [14754]
Mr. Horam:
The national health service internal market has greatly increased the responsiveness of the NHS, fostering innovation, responsiveness and efficiency. The introduction of the NHS internal market has consequently yielded a substantial net benefit both to patients and to taxpayers.
27. Mr. Rendel:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health what representations he has received as a result of his consultation on products prescribable by general practitioners. [14755]
Mr. Malone:
We have received about 200 representations in response to consultation on recommended changes to the list of products which general practitioners may not prescribe at national health service expense.
28. Mr. Gordon Prentice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health what recent discussions he has had with the British Dental Association concerning (a) the effectiveness of its oversight of the profession and (b) its protection of patients from extensive and unnecessary treatment. [14756]
Mr. Malone:
None. These are matters for the General Dental Council.
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Mr. Martlew:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health what guidance his Department issues to NHS trusts about limits on staff salaries. [14736]
Ms Lynne:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps his Department takes to ensure that the contract price for a specific product or service quoted to an individual hospital trust is the same price as that tendered and successfully accepted for a national contract with NHS Supplies. [15699]
Mr. Horam:
Individual national health service trusts make their own purchasing decisions and are responsible for ensuring that they achieve maximum value for money from their procurement. These decisions are not monitored centrally but are subject to audit scrutiny.
Ms Lynne:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health what procedures NHS Supplies are required to follow before accepting a tender for contract; and on what grounds they may award a contract to an offer which is not the lowest tendered price. [15700]
Mr. Horam:
The procedures followed by National Health Service Supplies staff are laid down in its standing orders and other supplementary guidance. It is also subject to all normal public procurement rules, as well as relevant European Community directives and World Trade Organisation agreements.
NHS supplies aim is to ensure that the NHS receives the best possible value for money from supplies contracts. NHS Supplies awards a contract to the lowest bidder unless this demonstrably offers inferior value for money when compared to other bids.
Ms Lynne:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the cost savings generated by NHS Supplies. [15701]
Mr. Horam:
Between October 1992 and April 1996 National Health Service Supplies achieved purchasing savings of some £264 million for the NHS.
Mr. Peter Bottomley:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health what is his current estimate of the average numbers of people each week involved in (a) taking up smoking and (b) contributing to a conception that is terminated; and what were the equivalent figures in 1987.[15840]
Mr. Horam:
No returns are made centrally which would provide the information required.
Mr. Chris Smith:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health what would be the additional cost of the payment of 100 per cent. rather than 50 per cent. of the basic salary for junior doctors by the regional postgraduate dean.[15906]
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Mr. Malone:
There would be no additional cost. Junior doctors' basic salaries are paid in full from national health service funds.
Mr. Smith:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the additional cost would be of paying junior doctors on part-time contracts or in flexible training posts the standard hourly rate for the first 40 hours of work in the week, rather than the first 20 hours. [15909]
Mr. Malone:
Given the diverse range of working patterns junior doctors on part-time contracts undertake, it is not possible to identify the additional cost that would be incurred by paying the standard hourly rate for additional hours worked.
Mr. Tredinnick:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans he has to commission research into arachnoiditis; and if he will make a statement. [15979]
Mr. Horam:
There are no plans to commission research into arachnoiditis centrally.
Mr. Chris Davies:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will estimate the cost to the NHS of abolishing charges currently made for prescription drugs used to treat (a) epilepsy and (b) long-term depression.[15791]
Mr. Malone:
People suffering from epilepsy who require continuous anti-convulsive therapy are exempt from prescription charges.
On the basis of a charge for a prescription item of £5.50 and the number of prescription items dispensed in 1995 for preparations in the British National Formulary, issue 28, September 1994, therapeutic group 4.3.1-4.3.3, some of which may have been prescribed for conditions other than long-term depression, it is estimated that about £8 million in charges would be lost annually in England to the national health service.
Mr. Henderson:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many asylum seekers have been given assistance under the National Assistance Act 1948 or Children Act 1989 by local authorities in each month since October 1996; and how much money has been allocated to local authorities for each month since October 1996 for this assistance. [15805]
Mr. Burns:
Information on numbers being supported is not collected centrally.
The 1996-97 special grants for unaccompanied children and families with children will be allocated and paid to individual local authorities by the end of March. A special grant for adults being supported under the National Assistance Act was laid before Parliament on 11 February.
Mr. Nigel Evans:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many general practitioner fundholders there are in (a) the north-west and (b) England. [16192]
18 Feb 1997 : Column: 542
Mr. Malone:
There are currently 1,857 general practitioner fundholders in the north-west region and 13,423 in England as a whole, with more preparing to join next year.
Sir Teddy Taylor:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on the entitlement of denturists and clinical dental technicians to practise legally in the United Kingdom in the direct supply of dentures to patients. [16021]
Mr. Malone:
On 12 June last year, I announced in the House the Government's proposal to amend the Dentists Act 1984 following the General Dental Council's recommendation to set up new classes of dental auxiliaries and expand the range of work that they can do, including the legalisation of clinical dental technicians. As a first step it is intended to publish a consultation Bill on amendments to the Dentists Act.
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