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Libya (Sanctions)

Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will make a statement on measures taken at European Communities level to remove sanctions on Libya. [86722]

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Mr. Tony Lloyd: I have been asked to reply.

I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to my hon. Friend the Member for Hull, West and Hessle (Mr. Johnson) on 20 April 1999, Official Report, columns 512-13.

HEALTH

Yellow Card Scheme

Mr. Etherington: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans he has to review the operation of the Yellow Card Scheme. [86156]

Ms Jowell: The Yellow Card Scheme is run on a day-to-day basis by the Medicines Control Agency (MCA) on behalf of the Committee on Safety of Medicines (CSM), the expert advisory committee to the Licensing Authority, which has responsibilities under the Medicines Act 1986 for the promotion of collection and investigation of information relating to adverse reactions (ADRs).

The MCA and the CSM regularly review all aspects of Yellow Card Scheme including:



    2. The proportion of serious adverse drug reactions compared to non serious and by reporting group.


    3. The recent extension of the Yellow Card Scheme to include hospital pharmacists as reporters and the inclusion of community pharmacists later this year.


    4. The progress of special reporting initiatives such as:


    i. The HIV Adverse Drug Reaction Reporting Scheme.


    ii. Pilot schemes for extending the Yellow Card Scheme to include nurses and to investigate reporting of suspected ADRs in children.


    iii. Development of electronic Yellow Cards.


    5. Feedback from focus groups investigating GPs perceptions about the Yellow Card Scheme and how it might be improved.


    6. Providing feedback to reporters in regular bulletins such as "Current Problems in Pharmacovigilance".

The work of activities of the four MCA/CSM Regional Monitoring Centres in Merseyside, Northern Region, Wales and the West Midlands is reviewed at an annual meeting with the MCA.

Mr. Etherington: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many Yellow Card Scheme reports since 1989 have been received by the Medicines Control Agency regarding adverse reaction to metrizamide/myodil; and if he will make a statement. [86158]

Ms Jowell: The total number of suspected adverse drug reaction reports for reactions to metrizamide and myodil received under the United Kingdom spontaneous reporting scheme (Yellow Card Scheme) for the period from 1 January 1989 was none and 8 respectively. It should be noted that some of these reactions have been reported retrospectively and were reported to have occurred between 1972-1989.

NHS Pay Awards

Mr. Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what was the average pay award to (a) nurses, (b) doctors, (c) speech therapists, (d) medical laboratory scientific officers and (e) NHS administrative

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staff, in percentage terms, in the most recent round of pay negotiations; how much each of these awards cost in cash terms in (i) Gloucestershire and (ii) nationally; what percentage of the increase in the NHS budget each of these awards took up (1) in Gloucestershire and (2) nationally; and if he will make a statement. [85647]

Mr. Denham [holding answer 8 June 1999]: In the last complete round of pay negotiations, hospital doctors were awarded 4.2 per cent. paid from 1 December 1998, with 2 per cent. (and 0.35 per cent. in respect of the value of pensions) paid from 1 April 1998. Nurses, speech therapists, medical laboratory scientific officers and National Health Service administrative and clerical staff received 3.8 per cent. from 1 December 1998 with 2 per cent. paid from 1 April. The additional cost of pay increases for all Hospital and Community Health Service staff in 1998-99, relative to pay in 1997-98, was £440 million in England; separate information for Gloucestershire is not available. This cost was 20 per cent. of the £2,196 million increase in net NHS funding in 1998-99.

Out-of-hours Calls

Mr. Ben Chapman: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what representations he has received about GPs redirecting out-of-hours calls to the local hospital; and if he will make a statement. [86376]

Mr. Denham: We are not aware of any general representations to my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State on the redirection of general practitioners out-of-hours calls to local hospitals.

GPs may make arrangements with any organisation to provide out-of-hours primary care services on their behalf but they must satisfy themselves that the service provided

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is adequate and appropriate for their patients. They must ensure that any deputising arrangements which they have chosen continue to meet those standards.

Decisions on whether to refer a patient for secondary care outside surgery hours will be based on clinical need--the same as for referrals which are made after a consultation during surgery hours.

Devonshire Royal Hospital

Mr. Levitt: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what progress has been made with the sale of the Devonshire Royal Hospital in Buxton by NHS Estates. [86465]

Mr. Denham: Devonshire Royal Hospital, Buxton is contained within my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State's retained estate and has been actively marketed for five months. This follows an innovative marketing strategy developed by Capitec (part of NHS Estates) and agents to maximise awareness throughout the United Kingdom and internationally. 800 sets of information have been sent out with 170 specific inquiries received to date.

Spending (OECD Countries)

Mr. Paul Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if comparative figures for the United Kingdom and other OECD countries are collated for health spending; and if he will make a statement. [86634]

Mr. Denham: The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development produce figures for public and total health care spending for member countries. Two indicators of comparative public and total health care expenditure are given in the table. These are health care expenditure as a percentage of gross domestic product and health care expenditure in dollars per capita. All figures are for 1996.

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CountryPublic healthcare expenditure as a percentage of GDPTotal healthcare expenditure as a percentage of GDPPublic healthcare expenditure ($ per capita)Total healthcare expenditure ($ per capita)
Australia5.98.51,2201,775
Austria5.78.01,2581,748
Belgium6.87.81,4981,708
Canada6.79.61,4402,065
Czech Republic6.67.2836904
Denmark5.28.01,1751,802
Finland5.87.41,0821,380
France7.89.71,5991,983
Germany8.210.51,7832,278
Greece5.26.8688888
Hungary4.76.7417602
Iceland6.88.21,5821,893
Ireland5.27.09471,276
Italy5.57.81,1061,584
Japan5.77.21,3211,677
Korea2.14.0282537
Luxembourg6.26.81,9802,139
Mexico2.74.6212358
Netherlands6.28.61,2731,766
New Zealand5.67.39741,270
Norway6.57.91,5911,928
Poland4.65.0344371
Portugal4.98.36411,071
Spain5.87.48781115
Sweden7.28.61,3891,675
Switzerland7.110.21,7482,499
Turkey2.73.8165232
United Kingdom5.86.91,1131,317
United States6.514.01,8193,898

Source:

OECD Health Databank 1998


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Secure Units

Mrs. Betty Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list the medium secure units in operation in England and the date when each was commissioned. [87039]

Mr. Hutton: The list shows the number of medium secure units in the National Health Service in England. The date when each was commissioned is not held centrally.












































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