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Asthma
Mr. Paul Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on the health risks of asthma sufferers drinking soya milk. [121760]
Yvette Cooper: It is recognised that foods such as soya can combine with other factors such as throat and chest infections, allergies to dust mites, pollens, pets, irritants such as cigarette smoke etc. to provoke or exacerbate asthmatic attacks. However, food is seldom the only factor. For those individuals who are not allergic to soya, we are not aware of any particular risks to asthma suffers of drinking soya milk.
GP Item of Service System
Mr. Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he had made of the benefits of adopting the system of item of service for general practitioners. [122073]
Mr. Denham: Item of service payments to general practitioners are one of the components of the national general medical services contract. The contract is under continual review to ensure it encourages delivery of the best service to patients.
Hospital Admissions
Mr. Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what was the average cost of a single hospital admission in (a) Bromley Health Authority and (b) North Cumbria in the last 12 months for which figures are available. [122366]
Mr. Denham: The average cost of a single hospital admission within Bromley Health Authority was £1,154, compared with £1,269 for North Cumbria Health Authority.
NHS Reform
Mr. Swayne: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the budget is for the current public consultation regarding the (a) future and (b) reform of the NHS. [122140]
Mr. Denham [holding answer 15 May 2000]: The overall cost of the public consultation will depend upon the nature of the public response, but we are meeting the costs from existing resources following reprioritisation within the Department.
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All staff who are working on the National Plan have either been seconded from the National Health Service or Government. The cost of producing 1,000,000 leaflets for staff is around £55,000 and of producing 12,000,000 leaflets for the public is around £200,000. Other public involvement activity, which includes the public fora and focus groups, will cost around £85,000.
The consultation will help shape the National Plan which will underpin the way in which the additional resources for the NHS over the next four years of £4.2 billion in 2000-01, £3.7 billion in 2001-02, £4.1 billion in 2002-03 and £4.4 billion in 2003-04 will be used for the modernisation of the NHS.
National Alcohol Strategy
Mr. Corbett: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when he intends to publish the national alcohol strategy. [122390]
Yvette Cooper [holding answer 16 May 2000]: The Department plans to launch a consultation paper about a National Strategy to Tackle Alcohol Misuse in England later this year. After a sufficient period for comment the strategy will be published.
Female Circumcision
Ms McCafferty: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what guidance his Department issues to health authorities concerning the operation of the Prohibition of Female Circumcision Act 1985. [122493]
Yvette Cooper [holding answer 17 May 2000]: "Working Together to Safeguard Children" was issued to health authorities jointly by the Department of Health, the Home Office and the Department for Education and Employment in December 1999. It is also addressed to those who work in the education services, the police, social services, the probation service, and others working in contact with children. Reference to female genital mutilation highlights the importance of focusing on preventive strategies where practising populations are known to live.
Websites
Mr. Maclennan: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to his answer of 19 April 2000, Official Report, column 518W, on websites, if he will list the sites under his responsibility, for which a company provides a technical service, free of charge, towards creating the site, and on which the company is mentioned; and if he will (a) list the company and (b) estimate the market value of this publicity for the company in each case. [122746]
Ms Stuart: No company providing a website technical service free of charge is mentioned on the Department's websites.
For National Health Service websites, the NHS 50th site was sponsored by British Telecom, and the NHS Direct Online website currently does not advertise the site development company. Both websites are accessible to all via the internet, including the NHS. The NHS Direct Online was visited by 1.5 million people on its first day of operation. Any market value of publicity for companies
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mentioned on these, or the numerous other NHS websites, is not held centrally, and could not be collected except at a disproportionate cost.
TB Vaccination
Dr. Tonge: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what his policy is on TB vaccination for young people at school. [118774]
Yvette Cooper: I refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave the hon. Member for Brentwood and Ongar (Mr. Pickles) on 3 May 2000, Official Report, column 166W.
Breast Cancer
Angela Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what representations he has received regarding the availability of qualified and experienced radiographers to undertake breast cancer screening. [120083]
Yvette Cooper: We are currently considering with the professional bodies the capacity and workforce of the breast screening programme, in view of the growing numbers of women eligible for breast screening as those born in the post-war years reach the age of 50.
Civil Servants
Dr. David Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what was the average percentage increase in salaries of non-industrial civil servants, excluding members of the senior Civil Service, in his Department for 1999-2000; and to what extent the pay awards were staged. [121653]
Ms Stuart: The headline pay settlement was 2.3 per cent. on the total pay bill and, together with the additional funds from staff turnover, staff in post received performance related pay increases averaging 4 per cent. The increase was not staged.
Chemotherapy
Dr. Gibson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what percentage of cancer patients have received chemotherapy as part of their treatment for each of the last five years. [122695]
Yvette Cooper: The information requested is not currently available. However, Professor Mike Richards, the National Cancer Director, and the Cancer Services Analysis Team are about to undertake a national survey of chemotherapy services. This survey will include data on the number of patients receiving chemotherapy and the volume of drugs used. The survey will be undertaken during the next six months and the results will be available by the end of the year.
Pharmacists
Mr. David Heath: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what representation of pharmacists there is on the NHS Modernisation Action Team. [122118]
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Ms Stuart: Professor Alison Blenkinsopp of the Department of Medicine Management at Keele University is a member of the Patient Care (Empowerment) Modernisation Action Team.
Pharmacy Strategy
Mr. David Heath: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when he will publish the Government's pharmacy strategy. [122117]
Ms Stuart: I refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave my hon. Friend the Member for Edmonton (Mr. Love) on 4 April 2000, Official Report, column 394W.
Health Visitors
Ms Kelly: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much has been spent on the provision of health visitors in each year since 1997; and if he will estimate how many children were seen in this period. [122558]
Yvette Cooper: The amount of expenditure on the provision of health visitors is not separable from amounts spent in other areas of the community health services. Estimates of the number of children aged under 16 seen by health visitors are contained in the table:
| Year | Number |
|---|---|
| 1996-97 | 2,411 |
| 1997-98 | 2,358 |
| 1998-99 | 2,309 |
Source:
Department of Health return KC55 Statistics Division 2B
Over 90 per cent. of children seen by health visitors are aged 4 years or under.
Technicians
Dr. Tonge: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans he has (1) to introduce national schemes to promote the training and recruitment of prosthetic and orthotic technicians; [122340]
- (2) to restore apprenticeship schemes in the NHS for prosthetic and orthotic technicians. [122342]
Mr. Denham: The training and recruitment of prosthetic and orthotic technicians are the responsibility of local National Health Service employers.
The recently published "Review of Workforce Planning" acknowledges that there are a number of staff groups playing important roles in service delivery who currently sit outside mainstream workforce planning and funding arrangements. The review states that it is important that their training and development needs are properly identified and considered.
A National Advisory Group has begun work to determine the current profile of the orthotist and prosthetist workforce and education arrangements. The analysis will include consideration of the number, training and role of orthotic and prosthetic technicians.
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