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27 Jan 2003 : Column 673W—continued
Heritage and Antique Assets
Mr. Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what sales of heritage assets and antique assets have been made by his Department since May 1997; if he will list such assets; and if will estimate the total sales proceeds. [92384]
Mr. Lammy: The Department has not sold any heritage assets or antique assets in the period since May 1997.
This answer does not include information about the national health service.
Hospitals (Somerset)
Mr. Liddell-Grainger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many tasks he has set for each hospital in Somerset; and when they are due to be completed. [91507]
Ms Blears: My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State has set no tasks specifically for hospitals in Somerset. Service delivery targets for the whole health system were set out in the NHS Plan.
HPA
Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps he is taking to maintain intelligence and service delivery in health protection after 1 April 2003 across the new structure for health protection. [90051]
Ms Blears: We propose to establish the Health Protection Agency as a special health authority from 1 April 2003. As outlined in my response of 20 January 2003, Official Report, column 130W, to the hon. Member, the Department has identified interim organisational arrangements to ensure that the HPA can maintain intelligence and service delivery at national level. Similar arrangements are being finalised at regional and local level, including the identification of interim leads on microbiology services at regional level, to co-ordinate and support the public health outputs of HPA and national health service microbiology laboratories.
Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether the action plan for the creation of the HPA has been updated since 30 November 2002. [90063]
Ms Blears: The action plan is regularly updated.
Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the ability of the HPA to respond to a biological attack on the UK during the first six months of its operations. [90070]
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Ms Blears: We propose to establish the Health Protection Agency (HPA) as a special health authority from 1 April 2003. The establishment of the HPA will improve our ability to respond to the deliberate release of biological agents and other hazards. In particular, HPA will be able to tackle incidents in a very structured way, especially those where it is not clear at the outset what the nature of the problem might be.
We shall be looking to the HPA to deliver a robust service, including the response to outbreaks caused by deliberate release of biological agents. We envisage that local, regional and national public health teams will be assisted by better microbiological services consisting of a complementary network of local public health and regional microbiologists, working with others at the national level, all of whom will have responsibility for operational support in the event of a major incident, including biological attacks. Interim management arrangements are being put in place at national, regional and local level to ensure that the HPA will be able to address key threats from its inception.
Surveillance to detect untoward events and outbreaks will continue to be monitored by the communicable disease surveillance centre. This new, nationally consistent, coherent and co-ordinated approach offers better public health security to detect and respond to outbreaks of infection.
Lifestyle Survey
Mr. Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 15 January (ref. 84467 and 84461), if he will list the programmes and the amount of money spent on each. [92009]
Ms Blears [holding answer 20 January 2003]: The Department commissions several annual surveys that include questions on lifestyle issues:
The Health Survey for England is a series of annual surveys about the health of people in England. This information is used to underpin and improve targeting of nation-wide health policies. The survey was carried out in 1991–1993 by the Office for Population Censuses and Surveys, which is now part of the Office for National Statistics (ONS). From 1994 onwards, the survey has been carried out by the joint survey unit of the national centre of social research and the department of epidemiology and public health at University College, London. The survey includes questions on smoking, drinking, obesity, fruit and vegetable consumption and in certain years, physical activity, but it extends beyond lifestyle questions and covers a wide range of subjects to do with the general health of the population.
The ONS general household survey, "Living in Britain", is a continuous survey which has been running since 1971 and is based each year on a sample of the general population resident in private; that is, non-institutional, households in Great Britain. It covers a wide range of topics of relevance to households, families and individuals, including questions on smoking and drinking.
The ONS omnibus survey is a multi-purpose survey carried out by the ONS for Government Departments and other public or non-profit making bodies.
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Interviewing is carried out every month and each month's questionnaire covers a variety of topics, reflecting different user's requirements. Included among these from time to time will be questions on smoking, drinking and contraception.
The annual survey of drug use, smoking and drinking among young people in England is part of a series established in 1982 and provides national estimates of the proportion of young people aged 11–15 who smoke, drink alcohol and/or take illegal drugs.
| £ million | |
|---|---|
| Health Survey for England | 2.75 |
| General Household Survey | (38)0.26 |
| Omnibus Surveys | (38)0.24 |
| Drug Use Smoking and Drinking(38) | 0.18 |
(38) Represents the cost of the Department of Health contribution to the ONS.
M&M Impact Ltd.
Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) which NHS trusts in the North West have contracts with M&M Impact Ltd., formerly known as M&M Associates; [88012]
- (2) when the tendering process took place for the public relations contract with (a) Warrington Hospital NHS Trust and (b) North Cheshire Hospital NHS Trust; and in each case, (i) where advertisements inviting tenders were placed, (ii) how many applications were received and (iii) how many applications were received from firms based in Warrington. [88013]
Jacqui Smith [holding answers 19 December 2002]: The tendering process for the public relations contract with Warrington Hospital took place in December 1994 and there has been no subsequent re-tendering for this contract. Invitations to tender were issued to three external organisations and one in-house bidder. Information regarding any advertisements which may have appeared eight years ago is no longer available.
Four applications were received; in additional to the in-house bid there was one bid from a company based in Warrington. The lowest bid was successful.
M&M Impact Ltd. and M&M Associates are separate companies. M&M Impact is a design consultancy. None of the national health service trusts in the Cheshire and Merseyside Strategic Health Authority area hold contracts with M&M Impact.
Three NHS trusts within the StHA area hold contracts with M&M Associates: North Cheshire Hospitals; Wirral Hospitals and Cheshire and Wirral Partnership. In addition, Bebington and West Wirral and Birkenhead and Wallasey Primary care trusts are honouring a contract previously held by the former Wirral Health Authority, which ends in March 2003.
Mersey Regional Ambulance Service
Helen Southworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will place a copy of the report by Dr. Kirkup on Mersey Regional Ambulance Service in the Library. [84283]
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Jacqui Smith: I have today arranged for a copy of the Kirkup Report to be placed in the Library.
Milk
Dr. Gibson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what evidence he has assessed concerning the introduction of cows' milk in infant diets before the age of two and the incidence of iron deficiency anaemia. [91077]
Ms Blears: The Department undertakes regular surveys to monitor the diet and health of children. The National Diet and Nutrition Survey showed that more than one in ten children aged 1½ to 2½ years were anaemic. Early introduction of cow's milk is associated with increased risk of anaemia. The Infant Feeding Survey 2000 reported that by the age of nine months 54 per cent. had introduced cow's milk, compared to 61 per cent. in 1995, while 8 per cent. were giving cow's milk as a main drink, compared to 15 per cent. in 1995.
The Department recommends that unmodified cow's milk be given as a main drink only after the age of one year and may be used in small quantities in the preparation of solid foods in the second half of infancy. After one year, diet should include a variety of foods to ensure that it is adequate in iron, vitamin C and D.
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