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Civil Defence
Mr. Keetch: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what criteria and methods of assessment are in place to
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evaluate the efficacy of the major incident plans put in place by individual primary care trusts; and if he will make a statement. [103433]
Mr. Hutton: Primary care trusts (PCTs), in common with all national health service organisations, are required to demonstrate their "preparedness" for major incidents. PCTs, together with partner organisations, need to be able to draw upon well-defined, effective procedures and processes.
All PCTs must have in place a major incident plan that is backed up by practical arrangements and processes including evidence of staff briefings, exercises and appropriate training.
The criteria used to determine whether or not a PCT is "prepared" are largely those set out in the recent National Audit Office report, Facing the Challenge: NHS Emergency Planning in England.
PCTs, as well as other NHS organisations, have been supported by health emergency planning advisers ('HEPAs'). HEPAs have particular expertise in emergency planning and, together with Regional Directors of Public Health, have been advising PCTs on the adequacy of their major incident plans.
Once complete, each PCT's plan will reviewed and assessed by the appropriate strategic health authority and this will have been done by the end of this month.
Dr. Tonge: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many (a) paramedics and (b) ambulance drivers have received training to deal with the aftermath of a (i) nuclear, (ii) chemical, (iii) biological and (iv) conventional terrorist attack in the last 12 months, broken down by primary care trust. [105097]
Mr. Lammy: In the light of the current threat, preparations have been stepped up to ensure that all National Health Service organisations are as prepared as they can be for responding to a range of possible threats, including the deliberate release of chemical or biological agents or incidents associated with radiological or nuclear hazards.
Comprehensive reviews have been undertaken by NHS organisations of their preparedness that will be completed by the end of March. Responsibility for staff training and testing local plans rests with each NHS organisation and training support material, developed as part of the national programme, has been made available to each ambulance service.
Information on numbers trained is not held centrally.
Dr. Tonge: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what financial resources his Department has allocated to training (a) ambulance drivers and (b) paramedics to deal with the aftermath of a terrorist attack, broken down by primary care trust. [105098]
Mr. Lammy: As part of a £5 million national programme, protective suits and decontamination units are being made available to all hospitals with accident and emergency departments and ambulance services in England to enable them to respond to chemical, biological or radiological incidents. Training material and support were also made available as part of that programme.
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Every national health service organisation has a basic responsibility to maintain and improve its preparedness to respond to major incidents of all kinds and funding is included in general allocations.
Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what recent steps he has taken to upgrade his Department's plans in the event of deliberate release of biological weapons; and if he will make a statement. [103866]
Mr. Hutton: The Department has contingency plans for the deliberate release of biological weapons. These are kept under careful and continuous review. Recent developments include:
- In December, the Department published 'Interim Guidelines for Smallpox Response and Management'. These will be revised in the light of comments received.
The Department has also contributed to the Home Office's 'Strategic National Guidance on the Decontamination of People Exposed to CBRN Substances or Material'—February 2003.
In addition, the Department has taken action to substantially increase the stocks of smallpox vaccine. A core group of national health service staff is in the process of being vaccinated against smallpox as part of the smallpox emergency plans. The Department has also stockpiled antibiotics to treat anthrax, plague and tularaemia—a proportion of these are held in "pods" at strategic locations across the United Kingdom, to allow rapid distribution in an emergency.
Within the NHS, plans for deliberate release are being continually updated. All primary care trusts and NHS trusts are reviewing their level of preparedness. Regional directors of public health are co-ordinating the responses in their regions.
The Health Protection Agency will be taking forward chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear training and building on that already undertaken.
Delayed Discharges
Mr. Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what delayed discharge targets have been set for each primary care trust in (a) Suffolk, (b) Norfolk, (c) Essex and (d) Cambridgeshire since March 2002. [104829]
Mr. Lammy: Delayed discharge targets are set by strategic health authorities in conjunction with local authorities. Target figures for delayed discharges by primary care trust are not held centrally.
Diabetic Screening
Mr. David Stewart: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) when he expects to receive the UK screening report into type 2 high risk diabetic screening; [104569]
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- (2) when he expects to receive advice from the results of the nine inner city area pilot sites for screening for those most at risk of developing diabetes. [104570]
Mr. Lammy: The results of the pilot sites will inform the advice on targeted screening for type 2 diabetes that the United Kingdom National Screening Committee will provide in 2005.
Doctors and Nurses
Mr. Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many (a) doctors and (b) nurses were employed in (i) each health authority and (ii) each primary care trust in the Eastern region in each year since 1997. [104839]
Mr. Lammy: The information requested has been placed in the Library.
Dyslexia
Dr. Murrison: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what research his Department is sponsoring into the management of dyslexia. [104157]
Ms Blears: The main Government agency for research into the causes of and treatments for disease is the Medical Research Council (MRC), which receives its funding from the Department of Trade and Industry via the Office of Science and Technology. The MRC is not currently funding any research into the management of dyslexia, but is funding some basic research of relevance to dyslexia. The MRC always welcomes high quality applications for research into any aspect of human health and these are considered in open competition with other demands on funding.
The Department funds research to support policy and the delivery of effective practice in health and social care. The Department is not currently funding any research into the management of dyslexia.
Eastern Asian Virus
Rev. Martin Smyth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what his assessment is of the threat to the United Kingdom from the new virus from eastern Asia. [104401]
Ms Blears [holding answer 25 March 2003]: Of the cases of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) reported so far, almost all have occurred in health care workers involved in the direct care of a reported case or in close contacts, such as family members. There is no evidence to date that the disease spreads through casual contact.
The threat to the United Kingdom from SARS therefore, at this time, appears to be small. Nonetheless, since the cause is yet unconfirmed, the UK has taken a precautionary stance.
The Department of Health and Public Health Laboratory Service (PHLS) issued information and advice on management and reporting of suspected cases to all general practitioners, trusts and public health professionals through the rapid public health link system on Thursday 13 March. We also issued advice to the public and travellers to South East Asia about SARS. Full information and advice has been kept up to date on the PHLS website www.phls.co.uk/topics az/SARS/menu.htm.
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The Department of Health and PHLS continue to monitor the situation.
Food Labelling
Mr. Roger Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) how many food samples have been tested for correct (a) labelling, (b) composition, (c) claims and (d) other presentational matters in each of the last 10 years; and what proportion of those samples were found not to comply with the statements made about them; [102865]
- (2) how many food sample checks regarding labelling have been undertaken by (a) the Food Standards Agency and (b) local authorities in each of the last 10 years. [103010]
Ms Blears: Details of food sampling checks by local authorities are not recorded in the form requested by the hon. Member. It is not possible to identify separately those samples taken for labelling purposes for all of the last ten years. Such information that is available for all sampling activity is shown in the tables.
The responsibility for enforcing the food labelling regulations, made under the Food Safety Act 1990, rests with local authorities. Figures for samples taken for this purpose are shown in table 1.
The Food Standards Agency (FSA) receives annual returns from local authorities, under the European Union's Official Controls Directive, EEC/89/397, for all food sampling activity, not just for labelling checks. Before 2001, details of the reasons why samples were found to be unsatisfactory are not readily available. However, in 2001, under the new Framework Agreement on local authority food law enforcement, implemented by the FSA with effect from 1 January that
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year, 17 per cent. (27,280 samples) of the 163,993 official and informal samples taken were found to be unsatisfactory. Of these unsatisfactory samples, 31 per cent. (8,418) were found to be unsatisfactory with regard to labelling and presentation, and 24 per cent. (6,551) for composition.
Official samples are those taken in the course of an official inspection procedure under the Food Safety Act 1990, where the results can be used in legal proceedings if appropriate. Informal samples are taken during other visits, such as for monitoring or screening.
Over the last ten years, the FSA and its predecessor bodies have published the results of a number of surveys aimed at identifying problems with the labelling of food products, and carried out under its Food Authenticity Programme. These surveys have covered 6,523 samples, as shown in table 2.
| Total number of official samples | Total number of informal samples | |
|---|---|---|
| 1992 | 65,398 | 176,433 |
| 1993 | 67,959 | 179,001 |
| 1994 | 65,162 | 181,202 |
| 1995 | 63,726 | 183,327 |
| 1996 | 62,350 | 168,972 |
| 1997 | 65,130 | 158,687 |
| 1998 | 59,950 | 138,099 |
| 1999 | 50,379 | 140,719 |
| 2000 | 41,089 | 137,349 |
| 2001(25),(26) | 86,614 | 77,379 |
(25) The definitions of official and informal samples changed in 2001;
(26) The 2001 figures have been revised and corrected since the OCD return was made on 31 July 2002.
Source:
UK return under European Union Official Controls Directive, EEC/89/397
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