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6 Mar 2003 : Column 1195W—continued

Bush Meat

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the health risks posed by the illegal importation of bush meat into the UK. [100350]

Ms Blears: The Food Standards Agency (FSA), which has responsibility for food safety matters, advises me that a public health risk assessment has not been made in respect of illegal import of bush meat into the United Kingdom. The FSA has advised local authorities, which are responsible for enforcement of imported food and food safety legislation, that all illegally imported food products, including bush meat, should be removed from the human food chain. As illegal imports, these products have evaded official controls, either in the country of origin, or at the port of entry, designed to verify compliance with food safety standards, and as such, cannot be legally valid in the UK. The FSA is also working closely with the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and Her Majesty's Customs and Excise to assist in the targeting of enforcement work to detect illegal imports.

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what research he has conducted into whether there have been outbreaks of diseases in the UK that can be traced back to have resulted from the illegal importation of bush meat from Africa. [100351]

Ms Blears: The United Kingdom public health bodies involved in the investigation of outbreaks of infectious intestinal disease have not traced any outbreaks of human disease in the UK to the illegal importation of bush meat. Studies of the routes of transmission of a range of food-borne bacteria have not shown bush meat consumption to be a vehicle of infection.

Child Care

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much remuneration an NHS child care co-ordinator will receive. [100500]

Mr. Hutton: The remuneration of national health service child care co-ordinators is a matter for local determination. Guidance issued by the Department of Health in 2001 recommended a starting salary in line with General Whitley Council pay scales for administrative and clerical staff (Grade 6/7, Spring Point 24–32). In 2002–03, this equates to £19,592 to £27,887 per annum.

Clinical Negligence

Mr. Dismore: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when he expects to make an announcement on the actions of the Chief Medical Officer's review of clinical negligence compensation. [99613]

Mr. Lammy: I know that the outcome of the Chief Medical Officer's review of clinical negligence is eagerly awaited. Professor Sir Liam Donaldson has reviewed a wide range of options to tackle the complex issues involved in improving the present system for handling clinical negligence claims; these are under consideration by Ministers. We hope to publish our proposals for reform soon.

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Coronary Disease

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what guidance has been issued to PCTs about prescribing drug eluting stents for the management of coronary heart disease; and what assessment he has made of the benefits of drug eluting stents for the management of coronary heart disease. [101075]

Ms Blears: Primary care trusts, as local commissioners of services, decide in consultation with local acute trusts and clinicians what services and treatment to provide for their local population. Drug eluting stents were referred to the National Institute for Clinical Excellence on 20 May 2002 for technology appraisal. Guidance on this device and its deployment is expected to be published in August this year. During this interim period, the national health service has standing guidance that it should make local decisions about whether to fund a particular intervention on the basis of the available published information.

Diabetes

Mr. Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps are being taken to ensure diabetic patients receive retinopathy screening through the national health service. [99628]

Mr. Lammy : A systematic retinopathy screening programme was one of two specific national targets published as part of the diabetes national service framework delivery strategy on 9 January 2003. It states that, by 2006, a minimum of 80 per cent. of people with diabetes are to be offered screening for the early detection and treatment, if needed, of diabetic retinopathy as part of a systematic programme that meets national standards, rising to 100 per cent. coverage of those at risk of retinopathy by the end of 2007.

A copy of the diabetes national service framework delivery strategy has been placed in the Library.

Electronic Patient Records

Dr. Murrison: To ask the Secretary of State for Health which NHS trusts in England have introduced electronic patient records. [91849]

Mr. Lammy: These are Chelsea and Westminster national health service trust, Wirral hospital NHS trust, Burton hospitals NHS trust, north Hampshire NHS trust and the Royal Cornwall hospitals NHS trust.

Food Procurement

Mr. Kidney: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what his Department's policy is on the procurement of food that is (a) local and (b) British. [99366]

Mr. Lammy: The Department, including its agencies, does not procure food directly but uses tendered catering services.

The Department's policy with all procurements is to obtain value for money through competitive tendering ensuring fair and open competition. Existing procedures already allow consideration of a wide range of criteria in

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the evaluation of tenders within the framework of the Government's value for money policies and the European Community procurement rules.

It is the policy of our main catering contractor to endeavour to purchase from United Kingdom sources when practicable.

Foundation Hospitals

Mr. Dobson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list the hospital trusts which have indicated an interest in foundation status. [101376]

Mr. Hutton: Preliminary applications for national health service foundation trust status have been received from the following 32 NHS trusts:

Addenbrooke's NHS Trust


Aintree Hospitals NHS Trust


Basildon and Thurrock General Hospitals NHS Trust


Bradford Hospitals NHS Trust


Calderdale and Huddersfield NHS Trust


City Hospitals Sunderland NHS Trust


Countess of Chester Hospital NHS Trust


Doncaster and Bassetlaw Hospitals NHS Trust


East Cheshire NHS Trust


Essex Rivers Healthcare NHS Trust


Frimley Park Hospital NHS Trust


Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Trust


Guy's and St. Thomas' Hospital NHS Trust


Homerton University Hospital NHS Trust


King's College Hospital NHS Trust


Moorfields Eye Hospital NHS Trust


Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Trust


North Tees and Hartlepool NHS Trust


Nuffield Orthopaedic Centre NHS Trust


Papworth Hospital NHS Trust


Peterborough Hospitals NHS Trust


Queen Victoria Hospital NHS Trust


Rotherham General Hospitals NHS Trust


Royal Devon and Exeter Health Care NHS Trust


Royal Marsden NHS Trust


Royal National Hospital for Rheumatic Diseases NHS Trust


Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust


Southern Derbyshire Acute Hospital Services NHS Trust


Stockport NHS Trust


University College London Hospitals NHS Trust


University Hospital Birmingham NHS Trust


Walsall Hospitals NHS Trust

General Practitioners (Shropshire)

Mr. Paul Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many patient appointments were seen by general practitioners in each year since 1997 in Shropshire. [99722]

Mr. Lammy: The information is not collected either centrally or locally.

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General Practitioners

Mr. Paul Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many general practitioners there are per 100,000 people in (a) England and (b) each health authority. [100083]

Mr. Hutton: The most recent information available on the ratio of general practitioners to population is for 2001. This is shown in the table.

Strategic health authority name	All practitioners(10) per 100,000 population
England	64.7
Cheshire and Merseyside	65.9
County Durham and Tees Valley	62.1
Cumbria and Lancashire	63.0
Greater Manchester	61.3
North and East Yorkshire and Northern Lincolnshire	66.6
Northumberland, Tyne and Wear	66.8
South Yorkshire	64.4
West Yorkshire	67.6
Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire	62.8
Birmingham and the Black Country	63.1
Coventry, Warwickshire, Herefordshire and Worcestershire	64.8
Essex	53.5
Leicestershire, Northamptonshire and Rutland	58.7
Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire	66.6
Shropshire and Staffordshire	57.3
Trent	61.5
North Central London	69.4
North East London	60.6
North West London	68.7
South East London	62.3
South West London	64.5
Avon, Gloucestershire and Wiltshire	72.1
Hampshire and Isle of Wight	66.0
Kent and Medway	59.7
Dorset and Somerset	76.2
South West Peninsula	76.7
Surrey and Sussex	65.1
Thames Valley	66.7

⁽¹⁰⁾ All practitioners includes: UPEs, restricted principals, assistants, GP registrars, GP retainers, salaried doctors (para 52 SFA) and PMS others.

Note:

Population rates based on 2001 resident estimates.

Source:

Department of Health General and Personal Medical Services Statistics.

ONS 2001 Population Census.

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