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Tuberculosis

Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people have been diagnosed with tuberculosis in the Buckingham constituency in each year since 1990. [17858]

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Ms Blears: Information on statutory notifications of tuberculosis (excluding chemoprophylaxis) is available from the Public Health Laboratory Service.

The Department collects information on tuberculosis as part of the hospital episode statistics (HES) system, which contains details of patients admitted to and treated in national health service hospitals in England. The numbers of patients in Buckinghamshire health authority are shown in the table.

Number
1990–9124
1991–9244
1992–9351
1993–9434
1994–9527
1995–9621
1996–9721
1997–9820
1998–9921
1999–200033
2000–0126

Notes:

1. A finished consultant episode is defined as a period of patient care under one consultant in one health care provider.

2. The figures do not represent the number of patients, as one person may have several episodes within a year.

3. The main diagnosis is the first of seven diagnosis field in the HES data set, and provides the main reason why the patient was in hospital.

4. The table uses ICD9 codes: 010–018 (1990–91 to 1994–95) and ICD10 codes A15-A19 (1995–96 to 2000–01).

5. Data in this table are grossed for both coverage and unknown/invalid clinical data, except for 1998–99 to 2000–01 which are ungrossed.

Source:

Hospital Episodes Statistics (HES) Department of Health


MMR Inoculations

Mr. Flight: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what percentage of children aged (a) one to two, (b) two to three and (c) three to four years have been given MMR inoculations in the Arundel and South Downs constituency. [18615]

Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what percentage of children aged (a) one to two, (b) two to three and (c) three to four years have been given MMR inoculations in the Buckingham constituency. [17860]

Ms Blears: The information available about children immunised against measles, mumps and rubella is contained in the Statistical Bulletin "NHS Immunisation Statistics, England: 2000–01". A copy of the bulletin is in the Library and can also be found on the Department of Health website www.doh.gov.uk/public/sb0121.htm.

MRSA

Harry Cohen: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what is (a) the level in the last 12 months and (b) the trend of the incidence of MRSA; what the average incidence per trust area has been in the last five years; which six trust areas have the highest and at what level of incidence; what action is being taken to tackle MRSA (i) in the above average trusts and (ii) generally; and if he will make a statement. [18078]

Mr. Hutton: Information is not available in the format requested.

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The tables give aggregate data on trends and numbers of incidents of methicillin resistant staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) voluntarily submitted by national health service trusts for specialist microbiological tests since 1995. These data are currently available on a regional basis only. Data on staphylococcus aureus bacteraemias (blood infections) showing the proportion resistant to methicillin in England and Wales are published quarterly by the Public Health Laboratory Service in the Communicable Disease Report. Copies are available in the Library.

More comprehensive information about bacteraemias, including MRSA, has been collected from all acute trusts since 1 April 2001 and this will be published showing individual trust data from 1 April 2002.

Instructions to the NHS have been issued to ensure that hospital acquired infection is being tackled throughout the organisation. All acute trusts are required to adhere to national standards for infection control and to have specialist infection control teams whose primary responsibility is for all aspects of surveillance, prevention and control of hospital infection including MRSA.

Evidence based, multi-professional guidelines on the general principles for preventing hospital acquired infection were developed with the support of the Department and were published in January this year.

Incidents of MRSA between 1995–2000

1995199619971998
Anglia and Oxford142237297223
North Thames566539544289
North West65176259215
Northern and Yorkshire90150224202
South and West80206254101
South Thames377421385220
Trent5299123109
West Midlands12812110269
Wales116158176169
Total1,6162,1072,3641,597

19992000
Eastern8060
London290170
Northern and Yorkshire17070
North West18090
South East170100
South West4010
Trent10030
West Midlands3050
Wales13040
Total1,190620

Notes:

For 1995 and 1996 and the first half of 1997 data have been amalgamated to the approximate boundaries of the new regional office areas. This allows for comparison with subsequent years.

An incident is three or more patients infected or colonised by the same strain of MRSA in the same month from the same hospital.

The criteria for submission of isolates of MRSA (and other isolates of staphylococcus aureus) to the PHLS for specialist tests have been revised twice since 1996 (in January 1998 and in January 2000).

These revised criteria have led to a fall in the number of incidents of MRSA that were reported to the PHLS.


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Volunteers' Charter

Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will establish a volunteers' charter to address the rights of volunteers. [20346]

Jacqui Smith: We already have in place an agreement to respect and promote the rights of volunteers under the Volunteering Code of Good Practice. This code forms part of the Compact agreement between all Government Departments and the voluntary sector. The code was launched in October 2001 and the Department is represented on the implementation group. This group recently met for the first time to agree on methods for the promotion of the principles and good practice set out in the code.

Health Spending

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health on what basis his Department has calculated the European average for health spending as a percentage of GDP; and what are the relevant figures for each country. [20687]

Mr. Hutton: The European average is calculated using the arithmetic mean of the member countries health expenditure as a percentage of gross domestic product. The relevant figures are provided in the table for the most recent data available.

Total expenditure on health

1998Percentage gross domestic product
Austria8
Belgium8.6
Denmark8.3
Finland6.9
France9.3
Germany10.3
Greece8.4
Ireland6.8
Italy7.7
Luxembourg6
Netherlands8.7
Portugal7.7
Spain7
Sweden7.9
United Kingdom6.8

Source:

Copyright OECD health data 2001


Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health on what figures for expenditure on health care in the UK from different sources his Department bases its figures for health spending as a percentage of GDP. [20688]

Mr. Hutton: Total expenditure on health care in the United Kingdom as a percentage of gross domestic product is based on the following.




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Registered General Practitioners

(Criminal Convictions)

Ian Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will require registered practitioners in England and Wales to disclose any criminal conviction in any jurisdiction. [17397]

Mr. Hutton: Regulations under sections 29A, 29B and 43D of the National Health Service Act 1977 were made, and laid before the House, on 22 November 2001 that will require general medical services general practitioners in England to disclose all criminal convictions anywhere in the world.

The regulations are:


Similar measures will be introduced for doctors in personal medical services pilots shortly.

General practitioners in Wales are a matter for the National Assembly for Wales.


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