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Primary Care Groups
Mr. Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what plans he has to appoint a pharmacist to membership of each primary care group; [66657]
- (2) when primary care groups will have their membership expanded to include a community optician. [66656]
Mr. Denham: Pharmacists and opticians are recognised as important stakeholders in the community and primary care group boards have the power to co-opt them onto the board so as to make proper use of their skills and knowledge, but we do not intend to require a pharmacist or optician member on all boards.
Mr. Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what representations he has received from community health councils regarding the composition of primary care groups. [66652]
Mr. Denham: The Association of Community Health Councils for England and Wales has been involved with discussions about the establishment of primary care groups since February 1998.
Mr. Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Health for what reasons dentists were excluded from the membership of primary care groups. [66655]
Mr. Denham: Dentists are not excluded from primary care groups. Dentists are recognised as important stakeholders in the community and primary care group boards have the power to co-opt them onto the board so as to make proper use of their skills and knowledge, but we do not intend to require a dentist member on all boards.
Mr. Rendel: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to his answer of 18 January 1999, Official Report, columns 381-82, what estimate he has made of the annual number of general practitioner appointments with patients which will have to be covered by either locum GPs or other GPs within the practices, as a result of GP participation in the administration of primary care groups. [67253]
Mr. Denham:
We have put in place a framework of allowances for primary care group board members that enables general practitioner practices to claim locum costs to cover the absence on PCG business of a member of the practice. The number of GP appointments that may have to be covered by either locum GPs or other GPs within the practices as a result of GP participation in the
25 Jan 1999 : Column: 108
administration of PCGs is entirely dependent upon how each of the 481 PCG boards organises its business and to what degree that business is conducted within individual GPs' surgery hours.
Mr. Hesford:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans he has for improvements to nurse education and training. [66864]
Mr. Denham:
We want to see nurse education become more accessible and provide nurses with the practical skills they need when they enter the National Health Service. We will be discussing how we achieve this with representatives of the professions and the universities, and with Sir Len Peach, Chair of the United Kingdom Central Council Commission for Education. The commission is reviewing nurse education and will report in the summer.
Mr. Hoyle:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will introduce a loyalty bonus pay scheme for years of service accrued in the National Health Service. [66927]
Mr. Denham:
We want to see a fair and modern pay system in the National Health Service. We intend to publish proposals for achieving pay reform in the spring.
Mr. Kidney:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to his oral statement to the House on 5 November 1998, Official Report, columns 1011-13, what assessment he has made of the call for a comprehensive system of training and qualification for all residential care workers contained in the Residential Forum's report, "A Golden Opportunity". [66814]
Mr. Hutton:
We are working to reshape training for residential child care staff in the context of the White Paper Modernising Social Services and as an integral part of our Quality Protects programme. To achieve our aims, we shall work in partnership with employment, users, professional and education interests in order that the best possible training opportunities may be provided for these staff. We have already begun this work through a series of initiatives reviewing the content of professional social work training, investing in new post qualifying training specifically for child care to be delivered in centres of excellence and by funding training to National Vocational Qualifications level 3 for other residential child care staff.
25 Jan 1999 : Column: 109
We see residential child care work as being firmly rooted in the values and ethos of social work and we intend to continue this as the basis of training for staff who deal with damaged and vulnerable children.
Mr. Kidney:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps he (a) is taking and (b) intends to take to ensure that the guidelines set out in EL 95/97 for choosing those MS patients suitable for treatments with beta interferon are consistently implemented. [66740]
Ms Jowell:
Most health authorities now have procedures in place by which suitable patients with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis can receive treatment with beta interferon. However, consideration is being given to the possible need for further guidance, in the light of continuing debate about the clinical and cost effectiveness of beta interferon.
Mr. Gordon Prentice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many patients with MS were prescribed Azathiopine between 1995 and 1998. [66856]
Ms Jowell:
The information requested is not available. 1,024,500 National Health Service prescriptions for Azathioprine were dispensed in the community in England between 1995 and 1997 (1998 data are not yet available), but hospital dispensing data, and information on medical conditions for which the drug was prescribed, and the numbers of patients for whom it was prescribed are not held centrally.
Mr. Gordon Prentice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans he has to issue guidance on the provision of care pathways for patients with long-term medical conditions. [66874]
Mr. Hutton:
There are no plans at present to issue guidance on care pathways for patients with long-term care conditions.
The Health Select Committee in its investigation into the relationship between health and social services has recommended that the Department draw up user pathways for a comprehensive range of conditions and services.
The Department is currently reviewing all recommendations set out the Committee's report on the relationship between health and social services and will be responding in due course.
Mr. Rammell:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health which measures of local deprivation his Department and its agencies use in considering allocation of funds to local projects. [66724]
Mr. Hutton:
The Department provides project funding to a range of voluntary organisations through a number of grant schemes. Decisions about which projects to fund are made, essentially, by referral to the aims and strengths of the individual applications and how each one relates to the Department's aims and objectives. The extent to which a project grant would have an impact on local deprivation would be considered alongside all the other aspects, and the particular circumstances, of that specific project.
25 Jan 1999 : Column: 110
Mr. Swayne:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) when the Committee on the Medical Effects of Air Pollutants plans to consider aldehydes; and if he will make a statement; [66728]
Ms Jowell:
This Department's Committee on the Medical Effects of Air Pollutants will be examining the health effects of aldehydes as part of its on-going review of pollutants, probably towards the end of 1999. The committee's advice will determine whether further research is appropriate, including the further identification of sources.
We understand that there is no detailed inventory of the sources of formaldehyde emissions in the United Kingdom. However, road vehicles are likely to be a significant source, particularly in built-up areas. Action taken to implement new European legislation to reduce emissions from new passenger cars and light duty vans in 2000 and 2005 is likely to reduce emissions of hydrocarbons (including aldehydes) from road transport. Further changes to improve fuel quality from 2000 and 2005 are also expected to reduce significantly the level of noxious emissions from the existing vehicle fleet.
Mr. Shaw:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will assess the (a) benefits and (b) disadvantages of regulating operating department practitioners. [66877]
Mr. Denham:
This is a matter for the profession.
(2) what further action he plans to take to reduce levels of aldehydes in ambient air; and what plans he has for further research into their sources. [66713]
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