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Fluoridation

Mr. Brady: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the compatibility of fluoridation of the public water supply with the European Convention on Human Rights. [96811]

Ms Blears: In our view fluoridation is compatible with the Convention. It is a valuable health measure and fluoridation schemes can only be implemented where the local population has been consulted and have indicated their support.

Food Labelling

Mr. Greg Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans he has to improve food labelling; and if he will make a statement. [95549]

Ms Blears [holding answer 13 February 2003]: The Food Standards Agency has adopted a wide-ranging action plan to tackle the issues consumers have identified as priorities for improving food labelling. The Agency is pressing for a number of important changes in European law; for example on country of origin labelling, nutrition labelling and health claims. It is also working closely with stakeholders on a range of voluntary initiatives, including clearer labelling, appropriate use of claims like 'fresh', 'natural' and 'pure' and more extensive, clearer country of origin labelling.

Mr. Greg Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will require food products which contain artificial sweeteners and display a label indicating that they are sugar free to display details of the artificial sweeteners in the same typeface as the sugar free declaration. [95550]

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Ms Blears [holding answer 13 February 2003]: Foods containing artificial sweeteners are required by law to be marked or labelled with the indication "with sweetener(s)" or "with sugar and sweetener(s)" as appropriate, if they carry a 'sugar free' claim. There is no requirement for this indication to be in any particular size or type of lettering, but it must be clearly legible.

Labelling rules are set at European Union level and are currently being reviewed by the European Commission. In the meantime, the Food Standards Agency is reviewing its labelling guidance and plans to advise that sweetener declarations should be given due emphasis.

Greater London Assembly

Mr. Cox: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what financial assistance his Department gave to the Greater London Assembly in 2002; and for what projects. [95849]

Ms Blears: The Department does not provide financial assistance to the Greater London Assembly.

Health Chief Executives

Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list Chief Executives of health bodies who have left their posts over the last 24 months; if he will give the reason in each case; and what financial package arrangements were made in each case. [97096]

Mr. Hutton: The Department does not collect information centrally on the number of chief executives leaving their posts, the reasons for leaving nor on the payments made.

Health Professions Council

Barbara Follett: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on the professional advisory committees; and what discussions he has had with the Health Professions Council on its proposals for professional liaison groups. [94230]

Mr. Hutton: I met with the President and Chief Executive of the Health Professions Council (HPC) on 4 December 2002, when all aspects of the HPC's proposals were discussed.

Under the Professions Supplementary to Medicine Act 1960, the Council for Professions Supplementary to Medicine (CPSM) had permanent standing uni-professional advisory committees. The Health Professions Order 2001 allows the Council to set up professional advisory committees to advise the Council or its statutory committees on matters affecting relevant professions. Any advisory groups or committees may be multi-professional with flexibility to provide profession specific advice as and when required. Ultimately, it is for the HPC to decide how best to obtain the necessary advice and also the mechanism for supplying it.

Home Care

Mr. Burns: To ask the Secretary of State for Health which local authorities have a zero rating policy for charging for home care. [97792]

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Jacqui Smith [holding answer 13 February 2003]: The information requested is not collected centrally.

Home Care Charges

Mr. Burns: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list, by local authority area in England, the (a) average and (b) maximum home care charges made by local authorities. [98318]

Jacqui Smith: Information on individual council's home care charging policies is not held centrally.

The Department of Health issued statutory guidance to local councils for home care charges in November 2001. The guidance states that when assessing a person's

income, charges should not reduce users' incomes below basic levels of income support plus a 25 per cent. buffer, and when setting an overriding maximum charge councils should consult users.

Homeless People

Mr. Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on how access to the health services of homeless people living in (a) hostels and (b) bed and breakfasts is being encouraged. [87437]

Ms Blears: National Health Service services are available free to anyone who is ordinarily resident in the United Kingdom, including anyone who is homeless. Primary care trusts (PCTs) have a duty to ensure appropriate and timely access to healthcare for everyone in their area, including the homeless and those living in hostel accommodation.

In addition, the new requirement on local authorities to carry out a review of homelessness in their area and develop a homelessness strategy with local partners, such as the PCT, will help to identify gaps in services and ensure that there is appropriate mainstream and specialist health care for homeless people.

We have in place a range of initiatives to improve access to primary care services for homeless people. These include the development of a model general medical service local development scheme for PCTs and the promotion of locally agreed personal medical services (PMS) contracts with a similar focus. There are now nearly 90 PMS pilot schemes which include the homeless as a priority objective. In addition, we are generally trying to improve access to NHS services for all through a variety of different access routes, for example, through walk-in-centres, diagnosis and treatment centres and one-stop primary care centres.

Mr. Hepburn: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what support is offered to homeless people to help them register with general practitioners; and what duty general practitioners have to register homeless people; [96872]

(2) what action the Government have taken to alleviate the problem of homeless people not registered with general practitioners. [96873]

Mr. Hutton: National Health Service medical primary care services are available free to everyone who is ordinarily resident in the United Kingdom, including anyone who is homeless. The Department is taking a range of actions to improve access for such people.

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These initiatives include developing targeted personal medical services pilot schemes, a model general medical services local development scheme, the provision of NHS walk-in centres and, most recently, reminding GPs, in the monthly GP newsletter for February 2003, that a patient does not need to have a permanent address to register for services.

Hospital Acquired Infection

Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the implications of hospital acquired infections for delayed discharge rates; and what representations he has received from care homes refusing to take residents from NHS trusts who have MRSA. [97691]

Jacqui Smith [holding answer 13 February 2003]: Data on the impact of hospital acquired infections on discharge from hospital are limited. However, it is estimated1 that patients who acquire an infection in hospital remain in hospital on average an extra 11 days.

We have not received evidence that refusal to take patients because of methicillin resistant staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is a significant problem. MRSA is not a contraindication to admission to a residential or nursing home and a Department of Health leaflet, entitled "MRSA—What nursing and residential homes need to know", provides advice on this topic.

1. The Socio-economic Burden of Hospital Acquired Infection PHLS1999, also available at www. doh.go v. uk/ha/costs, htm

Hospital Beds

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the change in the total number of hospital beds was in 2001–02. [88749]

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Mr. Hutton: The average daily number of available general and acute beds in National Health Service hospitals increased in 2001–02 by 789 to 136,583 compared to the previous year.

The Chief Executive's Report published on 20 December demonstrates where increased resources have led to an improved system of care. A system that is flexible and where increased activity happens outside the traditional inpatient hospital stay—in outpatients or in primary care. In the mental health sector, services for users are developing to provide prompt assessment and treatment round the clock for people with acute mental health needs who would otherwise have to be admitted to hospital. New services have been developed with an increase in patient contact with assertive outreach teams, crisis resolution teams and early intervention teams over the last year.

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