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Fisheries
Mr. McDonnell: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food when the Salmon and Freshwater Fisheries Review Committee will publish its report. [114437]
Mr. Morley: I refer my hon. Friend to the reply given to my hon. Friend the Member for Wirral, South (Mr. Chapman) on 9 March 2000, Official Report, column 800W.
Correspondence
Mr. Kaufman: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food when he intends to reply to the letters to him dated 11 November and 16 December 1999 and 20 January from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton with regard to Mrs. J. Smith. [114580]
Mr. Nick Brown: A reply to my right hon. Friend the Member for Manchester, Gorton was sent on 13 March 2000.
Mr. Peter Atkinson: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food when he will reply to the letter of 10 January from the hon. Member for Hexham about the restrictions imposed by his Department on organo-phosphate dips. [114543]
Mr. Nick Brown:
My noble Friend the Baroness Hayman replied to the letter from the hon. Member for Hexham on 28 February.
14 Mar 2000 : Column: 132W
TV Patientline Cards
Mr. Edwards: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans he has to give pensioners and benefit recipients concessions for the purchase of TV Patientline cards in NHS hospitals. [103556]
Mr. Denham: There are televisions in most day rooms and ward bays which are provided free of charge by National Health Service trusts. Some trusts have reached agreement with the manufacturers of Patientline to offer an improved service to those patients who wish to use it. The installation and pricing policy will be a matter for agreement between the company and the NHS trust.
Consultants
Mr. Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much his Department's agencies and non- departmental public bodies have spent on external consultants and advisers since May 1997. [102099]
Yvette Cooper: Total expenditure on external consultants and advisers, by the Department of Health's agencies and non-departmental public bodies (including Special Health Authorities 1 ), from May 1997 to 31 September 1999 is as follows:
| £ million | |
|---|---|
| Agencies | 3.08 |
| NDPBs | 4.38 |
(9) Except the National Blood Authority
Biomedical Staff
Mr. Austin: To ask the Secretary of State for Health on what basis he calculated the number of biomedical staff who will benefit from a 26 per cent. pay increase from April 1999. [112445]
Mr. Denham [holding answer 1 March 2000]: I regret that my answer of 31 January 2000, Official Report, column 453W in relation to the number of trainee Medical Laboratory Scientific Officers to benefit from a 26 per cent. pay offer from 1 April 1999 was incorrect.
| Spine point | Numbers of staff | per cent. increase |
|---|---|---|
| 01 | 100 | 26 |
| 02 | 50 | 22 |
| 03 | 100 | 18 |
| 04 | 100 | 14 |
| 05 | 100 | 10.25 |
| 06 | 6.6 | |
| 07 | 550 | 6.6 |
| 08 | 6.6 | |
| 09 | 6.6 |
Spine points 01 to 06 are effectively abolished under the terms of this offer, which establishes a new 4-point spine.
14 Mar 2000 : Column: 133W
Mr. Ruane:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) how many medical laboratory science officers left the NHS in each of the past 10 years; [113192]
Mr. Denham:
Information on numbers of medical laboratory scientific officers who qualify, join or leave National Health Service employment in each of the last 10 years is not held centrally.
Mr. Lilley:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will publish information about the extent to which patients in other countries have the right to select or be referred to the consultant or hospital of their choice. [113854]
Ms Stuart:
Comprehensive information is not available within the Department.
Mr. Lilley:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will introduce measures to encourage general practitioners to become involved in treating patients with drug addiction problems. [113954]
Ms Stuart:
We have made available £50 million over three years for health authorities to improve treatment services for drug misusers. A priority is to develop and increase the provision of primary care, which is recognised as the ideal setting for the treatment of the basic health needs of drug misusers and problems associated with drug misuse. The Department has set the target of involving at least 20 per cent. of general practitioners in the treatment of drug misusers. Revised clinical guidelines were issued in April last year which recommend shared care as the model for treating drug misusers in primary care. The Standing Conference on Drug Abuse produced a "training pack" last year for primary care teams in support of the clinical guidelines, on behalf of the Department.
Dr. Cable:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment has he made of the extent of disruption to NHS Direct Services caused by the failure of computers in the week beginning 20 February; and what action is being taken to ensure complete reliability in the telecommunications infrastructure for NHS Direct. [113180]
Ms Stuart:
On 20 February, British Telecom had a major fault with two of the three main BT routers for 0845, 0345, 0870, 0645, 0800 link-line numbers. This left one router to carry all traffic. This British Telecom problem, over which "NHS Direct" has no control, affected many services including banks, building societies, and insurance companies, public utility emergency numbers and the Samaritans and domestic violence helplines, among others within the voluntary sector. This was the first time that this problem has occurred. "NHS Direct" on that day handled about 1,000 calls less than the number of calls expected.
14 Mar 2000 : Column: 134W
In order to communicate this problem, "NHS Direct" immediately released a press notice urging callers who were unable to get a ringing tone after trying 0845 4647 to use alternative health services.
BT has apologised for the interruption to the service and has reassured the Department that it will not happen again.
Mr. Ruane:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list the (a) constituencies, (b) health authorities and (c) counties that are (i) covered and (ii) not covered by NHS Direct; and what is his timetable is for extending coverage. [113203]
Ms Stuart
[holding answer 6 March 2000]: The White Paper "The New NHS; Modern, and Dependable" announced our commitment to NHS Direct. At present, NHS Direct covers 65 per cent. of the population. By the end of October this year, the whole of England will be covered. I have placed copies of the list of (a) constituencies, (b) health authorities and (c) counties that are (i) covered and (ii) not covered by NHS Direct in the Library.
NHS Direct on-line provides users with the facility to determine whether their postcode or telephone number is covered by NHS Direct.
Mr. Hammond:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health what studies he has commissioned to establish how many users, as distinct from individual calls, there are of NHS Direct. [114496]
Ms Stuart:
We have not commissioned any studies to establish how many users, as distinct from individual calls, there are of NHS Direct.
Mr. Hammond:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many nurses are employed by NHS Direct; and how many are expected to be employed once the service has achieved national coverage. [114497]
Ms Stuart:
NHS Direct currently accounts nationally for about 600 whole-time equivalent nurses. Following the national rollout later this year, we expect the number to increase to about 1,000 nurses, a small number against the overall size of the nursing workforce (330,000 whole-time equivalent in England as of 30 September 1998).
(2) how many people qualified as medical laboratory science officers, and how many of them went into direct employment in the NHS, in each of the last 10 years. [113199]
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