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Water Quality
Mr. Pickthall: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food when he will make regulations formally to transpose into UK legislation the EC directives concerning the quality required of shellfish waters and the quality of fresh waters needing protection or improvement in order to support fish life. [1295]
Angela Eagle: I have been asked to reply.
Regulations concerned with the quality of waters for fresh water fish and for shellfish in England and Wales were laid in Parliament today. Together with Directions issued to the Environment Agency, they will replace the non-legislative mechanisms by which the requirements of the Freshwater Fish Directive and the Shellfish Waters Directive have been implemented since the early 1980s. The Directives prescribe certain mandatory minimum water quality requirements.
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The new instruments follow consultations with interested parties in October 1995 and January 1997. The existing arrangements for protection of waters will continue in place. However, the Regulations are the first step in a process to initiate a review of implementation policy. The Department will consult further on aspects of implementation, including the designation of relevant waters.
Patient Episodes
Mr. Campbell-Savours: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what was the total number of ordinary and day care episodes for each specialty for each UK health authority in each year since 1990. [22]
Paul Boateng: The information that is readily available is for National Health Service trusts (rather than health authorities) and is published annually in "Ordinary and day case admissions for England", copies of which are available in the Library.
Information about health services in other parts of the United Kingdom are matters for my right hon. Friends the Secretaries of State for Scotland, for Wales and for Northern Ireland, respectively.
Psychiatric and Geriatric Care
Mr. Campbell-Savours: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many beds were available for psychiatric and geriatric care in North Cumbria in each year since 1993. [24]
Alan Milburn: Provision for the care of psychiatric and geriatric patients in North Cumbria is a matter for the North Cumbria Health Authority. My hon. Friend may wish to contact Mr Ian Carr, Chairman of the authority, for details.
Multiple Sclerosis
Mr. Gordon Prentice: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many persons with relapsing or remitting MS have been prescribed Beta Interferon in each health authority in England at the latest date for which figures are available. [264]
Alan Milburn: The information requested is not available, but following the issue of guidance to the National Health Service in November 1995, I am asking for a general report from each health authority on local policies for prescribing beta-interferon, and will write to my hon. Friend when these are available.
NHS Beds
Mr. Campbell-Savours: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what was the total number of beds in the (a) acute and (b) supra-area specialties in each UK health authority in each year since 1990. [21]
Alan Milburn:
Bed numbers for particular specialties are planned locally. The information held centrally is collected by broad ward type rather than clinical specialty and is contained in "Bed Availability for England", copies of which are available in the Library. Data on the total
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number of beds in other health authorities in the United Kingdom are matters for my right hon. Friends the Secretaries of State for Scotland, for Wales and for Northern Ireland, respectively.
Mr. Campbell-Savours:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will review the advantages of the publication of bed occupancy rates in the NHS. [23]
Alan Milburn:
It is intended to publish this information in future. Figures for 1996-97 should be available later in the year.
Mr. Vaz:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health what proposals he has to increase the number of employees from ethnic minorities within his Department. [234]
Ms Jowell:
Of the Department's total workforce of 3,909, 13.3 per cent. come from the ethnic minorities. Little external recruitment is taking place at the present time. When posts are advertised they are subject to the Civil Service Commission procedures which ensure fair and open competition. The Department's commitment to equal opportunities is stated in all job advertisements. The Department is a strong participant in the Windsor Fellowship scheme which provides work experience for undergraduates from the ethnic minorities.
Mr. Campbell-Savours:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the national incidence of (a) E. coli and (b) listeria has been in each of the last three years. [46]
Ms Jowell:
The incidence of food poisoning is indicated by the number of isolations of pathogens made from samples from patients submitted to the Public Health Laboratory Service. The figures for the last three years are given in the table:
| 1994 | 1995 | 1996 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| E. coli 0157 (12) | 411 | (13)792 | (14)660 |
| Listeria | 112 | 91 | (14)116 |
Source:
Public Health Laboratory service.
Notes:
(12) Before 1995 laboratories examined only bloody diarrhoeal stools for E. coli 0157, since 1995 they have examined all diarrhoeal stools.
(13) PHLS do not routinely examine diarrhoeal stools for other E. coli.
(14) Provisional figures.
Treatment Costs
Mr. Forth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what is the average cost of NHS treatment per patient in England. [648]
Alan Milburn:
The average cost of National Health Service treatment per patient for primary healthcare in England is not available centrally. For secondary healthcare the provisional 1995/96 average cost per episode, for cases using a bed, is £1,103 in England.
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Mrs. Anne Campbell:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health what was the expenditure on the health visitor service as a percentage of (a) the total health budget and (b) the public health budget in the Cambridge and Huntingdon health authority in the last year for which figures are available. [601]
Alan Milburn:
In 1996-97, Cambridge and Huntingdon Health Authority spent 1.4 per cent. of their hospital and community health services budget on health visitor services. Information relating to the public health budget is not available centrally and my hon. Friend may wish to contact Mrs. Margaret Scott, chairman of Cambridge and Huntingdon Health Authority.
Mr. Simon Hughes:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many operations (a) by district health authority, (b) by regional health authority and (c) overall, were cancelled on the day of, or the day after, admission to hospital for the fourth quarter of 1996-97; and how many of those patients were not readmitted within a month. [778]
Mr. Hancock:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many operations in the Portsmouth and south-east Hampshire area were cancelled on the day of, or the day after, admission to hospital for the fourth quarter of 1996-97; and how many of those patients were not re-admitted within a month. [1215]
Mr. Boateng:
The information will be placed in the Library shortly.
Mr. Gordon Prentice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health what research he has (a) commissioned and (b) evaluated on the possible effect on health of living or working in close proximity to mobile telephone transmitter towers. [1021]
Ms Jowell:
The Department of Health is currently supporting the following initiatives:
Field strengths of electromagnetic radiation emitted by mobile phone transmitters, at locations to which the public would normally have access, are below the limits of exposure recommended by the National Radiological Protection Board published in "Documents of the NRPB, vol. 4, No. 5, 1993", copies of which are available in the Library.
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In addition, a European Commission Expert Group, has recommended a programme of scientific research to address the subject of mobile telephony and human health.
(1) the review of possible health effects of electromagnetic fields, including mobile phone (microwave) frequencies, being undertaken by the Advisory Group on Non-ionising Radiations to the National Radiological Protection Board;
(2) the World Health Organisation study of electromagnetic fields and;
(3) the Department's own radiation protection research programme.
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