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MRSA
Mr. Rendel: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the risks presented to (a) doctors, (b) nurses, (c) other hospital staff and (d) visitors by MRSA. [62863]
Ms Jowell: Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus does not pose a significant risk to healthy people and we are not aware of any evidence to suggest that MRSA infection is more common in hospital staff or visitors than in the rest of the general population. Employers must make a local assessment of the risks from MRSA and other biological agents under the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 1994.
Mr. Rendel: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many legal cases there have been against hospitals in each of the last 10 years, as a result of patients becoming infected by MRSA. [62869]
Ms Jowell: The information requested is not collected centrally.
Mr. Rendel: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of future therapeutic problems likely to occur as a result of MRSA, GRAM-negative bacilli and enterococci becoming resistant to available antibiotics. [62865]
Ms Jowell: Antibiotic resistance is one of the major challenges facing the international public health community. It was the subject of a comprehensive and wide ranging report earlier this year from the House of Lords Select Committee on Science and Technology to which we will be responding shortly.
Mr. Rendel: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate he has made of the cost of the MRSA in each of the last three years. [62868]
Ms Jowell: These data are not held centrally. In any individual patient, it is usually very difficult to assess the contribution of any infection acquired in hospital on the outcome, since many patients are already seriously ill from other conditions.
Mr. Rendel: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans he has to develop community-based approaches to the prevention and transmission of MRSA. [62862]
Ms Jowell: The Department has issued guidelines on the control of infection in nursing and residential homes and in September 1998 issued a report by the Standing Medical Advisory Committee on good practice in clinical prescribing of antimicrobials to minimise the emergence of antibiotic resistance. Our response to the House of Lords Select Committee on Science and Technology Report on Resistance on Antibiotics, which will be published shortly, will include information about other initiatives.
Mr. Rendel:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans he has to make MRSA a notifiable disease. [62866]
8 Dec 1998 : Column: 187
Ms Jowell:
Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus infection can take the form of many different diseases ranging from minor skin infections to pneumonia or septicaemia, all of which are more commonly due to other causes. It cannot be diagnosed clinically but only by laboratory tests. Notification of clinically suspected cases of all of these diseases would be wholly impracticable. However, consideration is being given to the introduction, at the earliest possible opportunity, of a statutory requirement on laboratories to notify certain specified test results, which may include those indicating MRSA infection.
Mr. Laurence Robertson:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps he has taken to ensure that hospitals' computers are millennium compliant; how much money has been allocated to this; what percentage of this has been given to Taskforce 2000; and if he will make a statement. [62411]
Mr. Milburn:
All National Health Service trusts are required to report quarterly, in detail, on their plans for dealing with the Year 2000 problem. This information is published on the Internet, and is reported to Parliament as part of my right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster's regular reports on progress in the public sector. The NHS Executive's regional offices, as part of their performance management responsibilities, analyse the returned questionnaires and follow up progress and issues through visits and other surveys. The purpose of these arrangements is not only to assess progress but to identify central support requirements to help ensure a successful outcome for all NHS organisations.
The latest returns for the period to 30 September 1998 show the reported position of the number of NHS organisations making satisfactory or good progress towards Year 2000 compliance currently standing at 93 per cent.
The NHS's estimate of the cost of dealing with the Year 2000 problem is £318 million. This figure includes the cost of replacing of deficient equipment.
The Department has not contributed any funding to Taskforce 2000.
Mr. Paice:
To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food when he expects to receive the report on a Forestry Strategy for England from the Forestry Commission; and when he will publish it. [62678]
Mr. Morley
[holding answer 7 December 1998]: I have received the report from the Forestry Commission and expect to publish the Strategy later this week.
Mr. Quinn:
To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food when he plans to publish the Government's Forestry Strategy for England. [63226]
8 Dec 1998 : Column: 188
Mr. Morley:
We have today published "A New Focus for England's Woodlands", our forestry strategy for England, and a copy has been placed in the Library.
The Strategy sets out our priorities and programmes for the creation and management of woods and forests in England. It will help to focus discussion on how we, in partnership with other organisations, can work to ensure that England's woods and forests continue to provide benefits for England's people.
The Strategy sets out a series of actions to help achieve our priorities and to help implement our key programmes. The Strategy is not prescriptive. It sets out the framework for the Government's continued support for forestry in England and will guide the targeting of our resources in the years ahead.
Mr. Robert Jackson:
To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how many people in his Department are currently on secondment from private companies, and if he will list them, their companies and their current responsibilities within Government. [62849]
Mr. Morley:
There are currently no secondees from private companies in this department.
Mr. Baker:
To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the financial incentives which presently exist to encourage tenant farmers to switch to organic production. [62425]
Mr. Morley:
A comprehensive review of the rates and the structure of aid to farmers for conversion to organic production methods was produced in April 1998. A copy was placed in the Library of the House. The review included a detailed analysis of the cost of conversion of different farm types. Tenant farmers were not identified as a group requiring separate treatment within this analysis. As a result of the review a substantial increase in the payment rates and other measures designed to improve support for the organic sector was announced on 30 July 1998, Official Report, columns 466-67.
Mrs. Ewing:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what guidelines the Government have set in respect of the timescale for Ministers to (a) acknowledge and (b) reply to letters from hon. Members regarding (i) constituency business and (ii) other matters. [63116]
Mr. Kilfoyle:
The Cabinet Office issued guidance in October to departments reminding them of the procedures to be followed when handling correspondence from hon. Members. The guidance, copies of which have been placed in the Libraries of the House, emphasises the importance of setting robust and challenging targets for responding to letters from hon. Members.