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Nurses

Mr. Flight: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what assessment he has made of staff shortages in areas of care formerly undertaken by state enrolled nurses; and what plans he has to create a replacement position to that of state enrolled nurse. [17212]

Mr. Milburn: The professional status of the second level (enrolled) nurse remains unchanged. There are currently 332,660 (whole time equivalent) nursing, midwifery and health visiting staff employed by the National Health Service Hospital and Community Services of which some 10 per cent. are second level

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(enrolled) nurses. Second level (enrolled) nurses continue to make an important contribution to the NHS and their skills and experience have been fully recognised by the clinical grading structure, which rewards nurses for the jobs they do.

Ambulance Service

Mr. Flight: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what system is used by ambulance services in England and Wales to eliminate hoax and unnecessary calls for emergency assistance; what plans he has to review these mechanisms; in what circumstances ambulance services may decide not to attend calls considered to be hoax or unnecessary; and if he will make a statement. [17214]

Mr. Boateng: Measures are being taken to reduce the number of hoax calls in a joint initiative between emergency services and telephone operating companies. Ambulance services are also introducing priority dispatch systems which will help identify unnecessary calls. If hoax calls are a particular problem, ambulance services may develop local policies and protocols for not attending in such cases. These must be agreed with local clinicians.

Radiotherapy

Mr. Hunter: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) how many women have been diagnosed as suffering injury or other adverse effects as a result of radiotherapy for breast cancer in each year since 1970; [17405]

Mr. Boateng: The most recent central information on numbers of radiotherapy exposures is for the financial year 1992-93 but this did not record the site of the cancer treated. Since then information has not been collected from radiotherapy departments. The number of women receiving radiotherapy for breast cancer includes women who receive it as part of the primary treatment to the breast and surrounding areas and those who receive it for treatment of recurrent breast cancer in the breast or other parts of the body, particularly the bones. In 1992 in England (latest year for which Office for National Statistic figures are available) 30,000 women were diagnosed with breast cancer and it is estimated that around half of these would have received radiotherapy as part of primary treatment. Statistics are not routinely collected on the adverse effects of treatments in any medical discipline although this is done in clinical trials.

Technology Foresight

Dr. Starkey: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what Technology Foresight priorities are being taken into account in the forward planning of the Department's scientific research programme. [17463]

Ms Jowell: The scope of the Department's scientific research programmes is sufficiently broad to encompass many of the recommendations made by the Foresight Programme in general and by the Health and Life Sciences Panel in particular. Foresight principles have been incorporated into the forward planning processes used by the Clinical Horizons Scanning Group. A corporate

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knowledge base on health trends and related information has been developed and is available to provide support for the forward planning of the Department's scientific research programmes.

Dr. Starkey: To ask the Secretary of State for Health in what way the Department's research priorities have been modified in response to Technology Foresight. [17464]

Ms Jowell: The Central Research and Development Committee has recently recommended that the structure of the centrally funded R and D programmes of the National Health Service should be reconfigured around three broad themes--Health Technology Assessment, Service Delivery and Organisation and New and Emerging Technologies. The latter theme is Foresight related; the full scope of the projects to be included in this new theme has yet to be agreed.

Child Care Task Force

Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) if he will list the programme of work of the Ministerial Task Force on Child Care and the dates on which it will report; [17537]

Mr. Boateng: We shall be announcing the terms of reference and membership of the Ministerial Task Force shortly.

Cannabis

Mr. Gordon Prentice: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans he has to implement the recommendations of the BMA's report on the therapeutic use of cannabis. [17416]

Mr. Boateng: My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Health has no plans to do so at present.

Community Care

Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans he has to review the legal framework of community care to take account of the recent Gloucestershire judgment. [17555]

Mr. Boateng: The judgment given on appeal from the Court of Appeal in the House of Lords on 20 March in the case of R versus Gloucestershire County Council and my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Health, ex parte Barry (the "Gloucestershire Judgment"), confirmed the law as the Department of Health has always understood it and we have no plans to review the legal framework of community care in the light of that judgment.

Food Poisoning

Mr. Jack: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will provide a breakdown of the foods accounting for the notified bacterial food poisoning cases in 1996. [17534]

Ms Jowell: The information requested is not collected centrally. The great majority of food poising notifications are sporadic cases notified on the basis of clinical symptoms in which it is seldom possible to establish the vehicle of infection.

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NHS Trusts (Membership)

Mr. Prior: To ask the Secretary of state for Health (1) if he will make a statement on his policy on the selection of (a) chairmen and (b) board members of NHS trusts; [17382]

Mr. Milburn: All National Health Service appointments are made on merit, and in accordance with guidance from the Commissioner for Public Appointments and the Government's criteria on the qualities required for chairmen and non-executives. Outstanding appointments to the boards of the Norfolk and Norwich Health Care Trust and the Norfolk Mental Health Care Trust will be made as soon as possible.

Ministerial Meetings and Visits (London)

Mr. Simon Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list, separately by Minister, and by date, each (a) meeting attended by and (b) visit undertaken by Ministers (i) in London and (ii) with people working for the National Health Service in London since 1 May, other than meetings with, or visits to, civil servants working for his Department centrally or for the South Thames or North Thames NHS regional offices. [17831]

Mr. Milburn: The table shows all Ministerial visits to National Health Service trusts, health authorities and primary care sites in London since 1 May 1997.

Ministerial visits in London since 1 May 1997

DateMinisterVisits
30 MayBaroness JayLondon Ambulance Service NHS Trust
3 JuneMr. BoatengHealth and Care Centre at Wembley Hospital
23 JuneMr. MilburnSouth Westminster Centre for Health (Riverside Community Healthcare NHS Trust)
24 JuneMr. BoatengNorth West London Mental Health NHS Trust
25 JuneMr. MilburnCentral Middlesex Hospital NHS Trust
10 JulyMr. MilburnKingston Hospital NHS Trust
16 JulyBaroness JayGuy's and St. Thomas' Hospital NHS Trust
17 JulyMr. MilburnSt. George's Healthcare NHS Trust Pathfinder Mental Health Services NHS Trust St. John's Therapy Centre, Wandsworth (Wandsworth Community NHS Trust)
21 JulyMr. MilburnSt. Mary's Hospital NHS Trust
24 JulyMr. MilburnSt. Andrew's Hospital (Newham Healthcare NHS Trust) Newham District General Hospital (Newham Healthcare NHS Trust) Globe Town Surgery, E2 Dr. Varma's Surgery, E1
24 JulyMr. BoatengLaw Medical Centre, Wembley (Brent and Harrow HA)
12 AugustMr. DobsonHammersmith Hospitals NHS Trust
2 SeptemberMr. BoatengCentral Middlesex Hospital NHS Trust
9 SeptemberBaroness JayTeddington Memorial Hospital NHS Trust
15 SeptemberMr. MilburnLondon Ambulance Service NHS Trust Battersea Locality Group, Queens Town Road Medical Practice
16 SeptemberMr. MilburnKings Healthcare NHS Trust The Maudsley Hospital (The Bethlem and Maudsley NHS Trust) Optimum Healthcare NHS Trust
22 SeptemberBaroness JayDr. Shah's Surgery and Parkside Health Centre (Parkside Health NHS Trust)
6 OctoberMr. MilburnGuy's and St. Thomas' Hospital NHS Trust (included visits to Guy's and St. Thomas' Hospitals)
9 OctoberMr. MilburnThe Royal Hospitals NHS Trust Homerton Hospital NHS Trust
14 OctoberMr. DobsonCentral Middlesex Hospital NHS Trust
15 OctoberMr. MilburnRichmond Twickenham and Roehampton NHS Trust (Queen Mary's University Hospital)
16 OctoberMr. BoatengCentral Middlesex Hospital NHS Trust
29 OctoberMrs. JowellPractice Managers Forum (Lambeth Southwark and Lewisham HA)
30 OctoberMr. MilburnHavering Hospitals NHS Trust (included visits to Haroldwood and Oldchurch Hospitals)
12 NovemberMr. DobsonKenton Bridge Medical Centre (Brent and Harrow HA)
12 NovemberBaroness JayGuy's and St. Thomas' Hospital NHS Trust
20 NovemberMr. DobsonElizabeth Garrett Anderson Hospital (University College London Hospitals NHS Trust)

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