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MMR Vaccine
Mr. Wilshire: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what percentage of eligible children in Surrey were vaccinated with the MMR vaccine in (a) 1999–2000, (b) 2000–01 and (c) 2001–02. [55033]
Ms Blears [holding answer 9 May 2002]: Information about children immunised against measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) in East Surrey and West Surrey health authorities, by their second birthday and fifth birthday, is shown in the table.
| By their fifth birthday | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| At 31 March | By their second birthday | First dose | First and second dose |
| East Surrey | |||
| 1999 | 83 | — | — |
| 2000 | 82 | 87 | 72 |
| 2001 | 80 | 86 | 62 |
| West Surrey | |||
| 1999 | 87 | — | — |
| 2000 | 84 | 89 | 66 |
| 2001 | 81 | 89 | 58 |
Note:
Information about uptake of MMR immunisation at age five was collected for the first time in 1999–2000.
Source:
Department of Health, Statistics Division SD3
Vasectomy
Mr. Key: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when the Under-Secretary of State for health, the hon. Member for Pontefract and Castleford (Yvette Cooper), will reply to the letter from the hon. Member for Salisbury dated 7 January about her policy on vasectomy. [53958]
Yvette Cooper: A reply was sent on 10 May.
Salt
Mr. Borrow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what role the Department of Health plays in the Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition's review of the evidence on salt; in what form the SACN will publish the results of their consideration of evidence on salt in
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the diets of adults and children; and whether consultees will be given the opportunity to comment on the draft of SACN's report on salt prior to publication. [54245]
Yvette Cooper: The Department provides the joint Secretariat for Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition (SACN) with the Food Standards Agency.
SACN's review of salt will be the first such report published by this new committee (which held its first meeting in June 2001). The final form of the report has not yet been decided. It will be placed on the SACN website to make it available to stakeholders as soon as it has been agreed by the committee. There are no plans to conduct consultation on the report before this is done.
Violence (Hospitals)
Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many (a) red cards and (b) yellow cards were issued in each hospital taking part in the trials to reduce violence; and what changes have taken place in the levels of violence in (i) those hospitals using the schemes and (ii) those who are not. [54462]
Mr. Hutton: No trials have been undertaken by the Department on the yellow and red card schemes. Barts and the London NHS Trust introduced a policy on the withdrawal of treatment from violent patients, also known as the yellow and red card scheme, in September 2000. The policy has had a deterrent effect, and although the trust has issued 12 yellow cards (formal written warnings), it has proved necessary to issue only the one red card (withdrawal of treatment).
Barts and the London NHS Trust have provided the following information on the number of reported violent incidents.
| Quarter | Total reported incidents |
|---|---|
| July-September 2000 | 56 |
| July-September 2001 | 102 |
| April-9 May 2002 | 40 |
The trust attributes the increase in reported incidents to increased staff awareness of the importance of reporting all incidents, which has been achieved through publicising the trust's policy in staff bulletins, and on posters, and wage slips.
The Department issued national guidelines, based on the Barts scheme, to national health service trusts to help develop policies on withholding NHS treatment from violent and abusive patients on 2 November 2001. All trusts must consider the need to develop a local policy on withholding treatment from violent and abusive patients. Such policies and procedures should form part of local policies addressing safer working conditions and should have been in place by April 2002.
Information on violent patients who have had treatment withheld because of their violent behaviour is not collected centrally, but may be held at a local level by NHS employers.
NHS Staff (Assaults)
Mr. Wilshire: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many assaults there have been on NHS staff in Surrey in each of the past five years. [55034]
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Ms Blears [holding answer 9 May 2002]: This information is held by individual national health service trusts and, therefore, is not available centrally.
Health Teams
Mr. Cousins: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many (a) crisis resolution teams, (b) early intervention teams and (c) assertive outreach teams have been set up since the NHS Plan; and how many such teams have been set up, and where, in the northern and Yorkshire NHS region. [54684]
Jacqui Smith: The numbers and distribution of these teams are monitored in the adult mental health services mapping exercise. Figures for England, and for the northern and Yorkshire region, are shown in the table.
| Local implementation team | Assertive outreach teams | Crisis resolution teams | Early intervention teams |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bradford | 2 | 1 | — |
| Calderdale | — | — | — |
| County Durham and Darlington | 5 | — | — |
| Craven | — | — | — |
| Dewsbury (north Kirklees) | 1 | — | 1 |
| East Yorkshire | 1 | — | — |
| Gateshead | 1 | — | — |
| Hambleton and Richmondshire | 1 | — | — |
| Harrogate | 1 | — | — |
| Hartlepool | 1 | 1 | — |
| Huddersfield (south Kirklees) | 1 | — | — |
| Hull | 1 | — | — |
| Leeds | 2 | 1 | — |
| Middlesbrough | 1 | — | — |
| Newcastle and north Tyneside | 1 | 1 | — |
| North Cumbria | 1 | — | — |
| Northumberland | 1 | 2 | — |
| Redcar and Cleveland | 1 | — | — |
| Scarborough | 1 | 1 | — |
| Selby | 1 | — | — |
| South Tyneside | 1 | — | — |
| Stockton | 1 | — | — |
| Sunderland | 3 | — | — |
| Wakefield | 1 | — | — |
| York | 1 | — | — |
| Northern and Yorkshire | 31 | 7 | 1 |
| Total for England | 184 | 52 | 16 |
Treatment Abroad
Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what rights an NHS patient has to demand treatment overseas as a result of the recent European Court ruling. [54896]
Mr. Hutton: Following the Decisions of the European Court of Justice (ECJ) in the cases of Garaets-Smits/ Peerbooms (C157/99) and Vanbraekel (C368/98), my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State announced last autumn that he was removing the obstacles in domestic legal provision to allow health care commissioners in England to purchase care elsewhere in the European Economic Area (EEA) for English residents.
These arrangements for direct purchase of care operate alongside the provisions of European Community law in Regulation (EEC) 1408–71. This allows referral of patients from the country of residence to the state medical sector in any of the member states of the EEA specifically to receive treatment for a pre-existing medical condition,
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using EC Form E112. The procedures for obtaining this document are set out in the Department of Health leaflet 'Health Advice for Travellers' available from Post Offices (copy available in the Library).
In considering the national legislation of the Netherlands at issue in the Garaets-Smits/Peerbooms case, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) said that their system which required prior approval from the patient's sickness insurance institution for treatment in other EEA states, was contrary to the freedom to provide services provisions of the treaty establishing the European Community. However, the ECJ said that, provided certain conditions were met, such a rule was justified in the interests of maintaining the financial stability of the Dutch national health system.
In the light of the ECJ rulings, the United Kingdom continues to operate a requirement that prior authorisation for treatment elsewhere in the EEA must be obtained. In the case of E112 referrals responsibility for this prior authorisation rests with the Department. Direct commissioning of health care services by national health service bodies by its very nature requires prior authorisation by the referring NHS organisation. Patients arranging treatment elsewhere in the EEA without obtaining the appropriate prior authorisation are personally liable for the costs involved.
Care Homes
Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what changes have taken place to invoicing arrangements for care homes since the introduction of payments for nursing care. [54898]
Jacqui Smith: Invoicing arrangements are matters for care home providers to agree with individuals and local authorities, according to the terms of any contract. From 1 October 2001, no one should be charged for the care they need to receive from a registered nurse.
Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what requirement there is in the new National Care Home Standards for minimum corridor widths; and how this will apply to homes in older properties. [54897]
Jacqui Smith: The national minimum standards do not specify corridor widths.
Mr. Todd: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether his Department has commissioned the website www.nhsonline.net to provide an internet directory of care homes. [55003]
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