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Alcohol and Drugs
Mr. Randall: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what provision has been made in the current year to provide assistance to those with alcohol and drug problems. [19108]
Ms Jowell: Health and local authorities are responsible for assessing the level of need for alcohol and drug services locally, and making arrangements to meet that need in accordance with local priorities and the resources available.
The Drug Misuse Special Allocation is a significant element in the resources available to health authorities to address the needs of drug misusers. In 1996-97 the special allocation stands at £37.191 million. This will rise to £41.296 million in 1998-99, an increase of 8 per cent. in real terms.
Mobile Phones
Mr. Ian Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what discussions he has had with the mobile phone industry as to whether a health and safety warning is needed on all handsets; [19127]
- (2) what discussions he has had with the National Radiological Protection Board about potential health risks from use of mobile phones. [19130]
Ms Jowell: The Department regularly discusses advice on the health implications of exposure to electromagnetic fields, including mobile phone frequencies, with the National Radiological Protection Board (NRPB). NRPB's view is that mobile phones currently used in the United Kingdom comply with the recommended exposure limit. The Department has had no discussions concerning health and safety warnings with the mobile phone industry.
Health Promotion
Mr. Randall:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health what provision has been made in the current year by his Department to promote healthy living through general practitioner practices and primary healthcare services. [19109]
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Mr. Milburn:
Advice on healthy living and disease prevention is integral to the activity of general practitioners and primary health care teams. Most consultations in primary care will include an element of opportunistic health promotion. A patient is entitled to a health check on registering with a doctor or after three years without a consultation and patients over 75 years are entitled to an annual health check. The health of children is promoted through the immunisation and child health surveillance programmes. Most practices engage in chronic disease management programmes in asthma and diabetes, in the national cervical cytology screening programme and in structured health promotion activity under arrangements introduced in October 1996.
The initial cash-limited and non-cash limited total general medical services allocation for 1997-98 is £2,980 million. This figure will however be reviewed shortly at spring supply and will be subject to change.
Mr. Hancock:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps his Department has taken to combat recent outbreaks of meningitis. [19012]
Ms Jowell:
The Department takes meningococcal disease very seriously.
Guidance on the control of meningococcal infection is issued by the Public Health Laboratory Service (PHLS). The most recent guidelines were issued on 8 December 1995 and guidance on the management of clusters of meningococcal disease was issued in January 1997. Copies of this guidance are sent to all Directors of Public Health and local Consultants in Communicable Disease Control and it is published. The guidance is constantly under review and careful thought is given to whether any lessons can be learnt from any incident and to whether any revision of the guidance might be required. The guidance was last reviewed on 21 November 1997 drawing on recent experiences in Southampton and it was agreed that no change to the guidance was necessary.
PHLS experts are routinely involved in dealing with serious outbreaks of disease. Advice on the diagnosis of meningitis is contained in the Department's memorandum "Immunisation against infectious disease" which is provided free to all doctors. Additionally, the Chief Medical Officer (CMO) writes annually to all doctors alerting them to the expected winter rise in cases of meningococcal infection and reminding them of the value of early antibiotic treatment and urgent referral to hospital. The Department contributes to the many information articles in newspapers and the medical press, and television and radio programmes that appear during the winter increase in cases.
The CMO also holds an annual press briefing for journalists to raise public, professional and media awareness of meningococcal disease. This year's briefing was held on 3 November and CMO was supported by representatives of the National Meningitis Trust and the Meningitis Research Foundation. The vital message at the briefing was that, in the absence of an effective meningococcal Group C vaccine suitable for routine use, and with no Group B vaccine at all, it remained essential that parents and, in places of further education, students, are aware of the signs and symptoms of meningitis and
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septicaemia and remain alert to seek urgent treatment if illness is suspected. Information materials continue to stress this message as well. This year, the Department's information leaflet "Knowing about meningitis and septicaemia" has been rewritten; it is available to the public from general practitioners' surgeries. The Health Education Authority (HEA), funded by the Department, has also relaunched its leaflet, "Look out for your mate", which is targeted at students. This year about 1.2 million "Look out for your mate" fliers and posters were distributed to over 750 colleges in England and Wales; 4,000 leaflets and 40 posters were sent to Southampton University before the recent outbreaks there. Information on recognising the signs and symptoms of meningitis is provided to new parents in the HEA's booklet "A Guide to Childhood immunisations". The Department also provides funding under Section 64 of the Health and Personal Social Services Act to support the work of the two meningitis charities in raising awareness among health care professionals.
Studies to evaluate meningococcal and pneumococcal vaccines in United Kingdom children, funded by the Department at a total cost of over £1 million, are being carried out by the PHLS in collaboration with the National Institute for Biological Standards and Controls, the Centre of Applied Microbiology and Research and the Institute for Child Health. These studies have shown very encouraging results already for Group C vaccines and early indicators for Group B are encouraging. There are reasonable prospects that these vaccines will eventually be able to induce long-term immunity although more research is needed before their suitability for widespread use can be considered.
Mr. Levitt:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will review the effectiveness of hospital complaints procedures in order to establish a code of best practice.[19453]
Mr. Boateng:
We will be commissioning an independent evaluation of the National Health Service complaints procedures during 1998. It is intended that one of the areas on which the evaluation focuses should be the identification of good practice.
Mr. Illsley:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on the outcome of the Health Council on 4 December. [20003]
Ms Jowell:
Following discussion, the Council reached a common position on a proposed Directive on tobacco advertising. The Council also reached political agreement on the Commission's proposal for a programme of Community action on rare diseases. The Council discussed the public health aspects of food safety. The Council agreed the text of a resolution following up the Commission's report on the state of women's health in the European Community. The Council also agreed conclusions of the European Union-United States Task Force on communicable disease, emphasising the importance of co-ordination between the activities of the Task Force and other appropriate bodies working on disease surveillance. The Council also took note of developments since its last discussion of Transmissible
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Spongiform Encephalopathies and agreed to keep the subject under review. There was a brief discussion of the Commission's proposals for programmes of Community action on injury prevention and pollution-related diseases. Finally, the Council took note of a Commission proposal for a Recommendation on the suitability of blood and plasma donors and the screening of donated blood.
Mr. Brake:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many car park spaces are provided for his Department's (a) Ministers, (b) employees and (c) visitors in (i) London and (ii) the United Kingdom. [19369]
Ms Jowell:
The Department has 288 car parking spaces associated with its London buildings, of which 14 are specifically allocated to visitors and six are shared between Department of Health and Department of Social Security Ministers. The remainder are allocated to staff but available to visitors when not in use.
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