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Health Authority Chairmen
Dr. Evan Harris: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list health authority chairmen in England and Wales. [31663]
Ms Blears: The information requested is in the table.
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Buckinghamshire Health Authority
Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many patients in the Buckinghamshire health authority area benefited from the hospital travel costs scheme in each year since 1997; and what the total cost was to public funds in each year. [32190]
Ms Blears: This information is not collected centrally.
Complaints
Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) how many written complaints the Buckinghamshire health authority has received concerning treatment received in accident and emergency departments in each year since 1997; [32188]
- (2) how many written complaints by hospital patients have been received by the Buckinghamshire health authority in each year since 1997. [32187]
Ms Blears: Information is collected at trust not health authority level. Information on complaints, including accident and emergency services, is contained in "Handling Complaints: Monitoring the NHS Complaints Procedures" statistical report. Copies are available in the Library.
Assaults
Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many staff employed by the Buckinghamshire health authority were assaulted by patients in each of the last five years; and how many people were successfully prosecuted. [32192]
Ms Blears: The information requested is not available centrally.
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Dental Health
Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans the Government have to improve education of parents and children on dental health; and if he will make a statement. [32688]
Ms Blears: Health authorities are responsible for oral health promotion and currently they attach particular importance to ensuring that oral health is covered in initiatives like Sure Start, Health Action Zones and Healthy Living Centres. Last June, to complement this work, we launched our "Brushing for Life" scheme, which targets families with young children in the 21 areas where dental decay is highest. When carrying out developmental checks, health visitors demonstrate good tooth brushing practice and give the families a free pack containing a tube of fluoridated toothpaste, a toothbrush and a leaflet on oral hygiene.
Fluoridation
Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what recent assessment has been made of the effectiveness of fluoridation schemes; and if he will make a statement. [32689]
Ms Blears: The report, "Systematic Review of Water Fluoridation", published by the University of York in October 2000, confirmed that fluoridating water helps to reduce tooth decay, but also identified the need for more good quality research. We have asked the Medical Research Council for advice on how the evidence base might be strengthened and their report is expected in spring 2002.
Redundancies
Mr. Hinchliffe: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will estimate the cost of staff redundancy packages arising as a consequence of organisational change in the NHS, broken down by region, since 1996. [32138]
Mr. Hutton: The Department does not hold details of staff redundancy costs by region arising as a consequence of organisational change in the national health service.
Contracts
Mr. Austin Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what contracts his Department has had since 1997 with (a) Arthur Andersen and (b) Accenture for (i) accountancy, (ii) audit and (iii) consultancy work; and what staff have been seconded (A) to his Department from and (B) from his Department to these firms. [32422]
Mr. Hutton: The Department has let two contracts to Arthur Andersen since 1997 and one very small value contract with Accenture, which ended in February 2001. Records do not indicate whether the contracts were for (i) accountancy, (ii) audit or (iii) consultancy work.
The Medicines Control Agency has a long-term IT operational support contract with Accenture (and previously with Andersen Consulting).
The Purchasing and Supply Agency has one long-term contract with Arthur Andersen for audit services, which terminates in March 2002, and has let one short contract with them for consultancy work since 1997. The agency
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has one current contract with Accenture, for consultancy work, beginning January 2002 and terminating in March 2002.
Records held centrally in the Department indicate that there have been no secondments between this Department and these firms, in either direction.
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