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28 Mar 2003 : Column 450W—continued
Prison Health Care
Mr. Paul Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Health into what category (a) HM Pentonville Prison, (b) HM Holloway Prison and (c) HM Feltham Prison fall, under the traffic lights performance monitoring system for prison health care centres. [105176]
Jacqui Smith: The prison health traffic lights performance ratings for these establishments at the end of December 2002 were as follows:
- Her Majesty's Prison Pentonville—amber;
HMP Holloway—amber
HM Young Offenders Institution and Remand Centre, Feltham—green.
Telemedicine
Dr. Richard Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what progress has been made with the evaluation of Phase I of the introduction of telemedicine at Kidderminster hospital. [104885]
Mr. Lammy: An external evaluation of telemedicine support for the Kidderminster Minor Injuries Unit (MIU) was undertaken in April 2001, after six months use.
- The system use was high initially but was reducing, in line with the experience of other MIUs, where use declined as nursing staff became more confident and experienced in dealing with a range of conditions.
The system had been very valuable in supporting the transition to MIU.
Most of the benefits set out in the business case for telemedicine had been delivered.
Voluntary/Charitable Organisations
Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list the voluntary organisations to which his Department has made grants in the last year. [105662]
Mr. Lammy: The Section 64 General Scheme of grants, under the Health and Public Services Act 1968, is the Department's main support for national voluntary organisations working in the health and social care fields. Information about the grants awarded has been placed in the Library.
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Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list the (a) voluntary and (b) charitable organisations with which his Department held discussions in the past 12 months. [100729]
Jacqui Smith: Given the very large number of discussions, at both official and ministerial level with a wide range of voluntary and charitable organisations, it is not possible to list them all.
Waiting Times
Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how average waiting times for (a) consultation with a consultant and (b) elective surgery have changed in the past six years. [91468]
Mr. Hutton: Between March 1997 and March 2002 the number of people waiting over 26 weeks for their first out-patient appointment fell from 70,700 at end March 1997 to 1,200 at end March 2003, and less that 700 at end December 2002.
The table shows the estimated median time waiting, in weeks, for in-patient admission in England at the end of March 1997 to March 2002 and the latest position. Over this period the number of people waiting over 15 months for in-patient admission fell from over 5,700 at the end March 1997 to 224 at end March 2002, and eight at end December 2002.
| In-patient (commissioner based) | Estimated median wait in weeks |
|---|---|
| March 1997 | 13.21 |
| March 1998 | 14.87 |
| March 1999 | 12.86 |
| March 2000 | 12.87 |
| March 2001 | 12.57 |
| March 2002 | 12.66 |
| December 2002(12) | 12.46 |
(12) Latest published quarterly data
Source:
Department of Health form KH07
West Midland South Strategic Health Authority
Mr. Luff: To ask the Secretary of State for Health for what reason the West Midlands South Strategic Health Authority has lent £7.5 million to the Worcestershire Acute Hospitals Trust; over what period the loan will be repaid; and what conditions attend to the loan. [105528]
Mr. Lammy: The West Midlands South Strategic Health Authority has co-ordinated cash movements between national health service organisations in order to temporarily assist the Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust. There are no conditions attached but the cash movement is linked to the trust having a financial and cost strategy in place. Repayment is planned by the end of April 2003.
HOME DEPARTMENT
Nightclubs
Mr. Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will introduce legislation to require nightclubs to replace glass bottles with plastic;
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and what estimate he has undertaken of the number of injuries caused in or close to nightclubs by glass bottles used in violence. [104749]
Mr. Bob Ainsworth: No estimates are available of the number of injuries caused in or close to nightclubs by glass bottles used in violence. However, the latest results from the British Crime Survey (BCS) estimate that a glass or bottle was used as a weapon in six per cent of all violent crime incidents. Research based on the 2000 BCS found that one in seven incidents of stranger violence and one in 10 incidents of acquaintance violence in pubs and clubs involved either a bottle or a glass.
We have no plans at present to introduce legislation to require the replacement of glass bottles with plastic. But we remain concerned about the high level of injuries that occur when glasses and bottles are used as weapons in drink-related situations in and outside licensed premises and other drinking establishments, and we intend to see that this problem is effectively tackled.
The Licensing Bill Guidance that has been published in draft by the Department of Culture, Media and Sport will make it clear that it will be open to the licensing authority (i) to impose conditions to address violence of this form if the police foresee problems, and (ii) where this form of violence has taken place on licensed premises, to impose a specific condition following a review of the premises licence. There will be a range of conditions that a licensing authority could impose on a premises, including one that they make use only of plastic vessels. In the most serious cases the licence itself can be revoked.
The Home Office published three research reports on alcohol-related crime on 25 March 2003. An evaluation of the "Tackling Alcohol-Related Street Crime (TASC) Project" in Cardiff and Cardiff Bay found that alcohol-related assaults were cut by 4 per cent. and targeted policing cut incidents by 41 and 36 per cent. in and around two specific clubs. This proves that effective steps can be taken to cut the amount of drunken violence.
Drug Driving
John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate he has made of the number of accidents caused each year by driving under the influence of drugs. [104590]
Mr. Bob Ainsworth: Studies have shown an increase over recent years in the number of people killed in road accidents who have traces of an illegal drug in their body. Cannabis is by far the most commonly found. Traces of cannabis can, however, remain in the body for up to four weeks, long after it has ceased to have any effect. The extent, nature and duration of impairment in any particular case are not wholly certain. Driving while unfit through drugs, whether legal or not, is an offence under the Road Traffic Act 1988. The police receive training in Drug Recognition Techniques (DRT) and Field Impairment Testing (FIT) that can be carried out at the roadside to enforce this legislation. DRT allow officers more easily to assess impairment by the physical signs. FIT are simple divided attention tests which the police can ask a driver to take to assess his concentration and ability to perform easy tasks which an unimpaired
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driver should have no difficulty performing. DRT and FIT results better inform a police officer's decision whether to arrest the driver. The Government are committed to making it obligatory for drivers to undertake FIT when required.
Inspections (Police)
Mr. Norman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many staff were employed by (a) HM Inspectorate of Constabulary, (b) the Police Standards Unit and (c) the Police Complaints Authority in each year since 1997; and how many were directly involved in inspections in each case. [104696]
Mr. Bob Ainsworth: The number of staff employed by Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary (HMIC), the Police Standards Unit (PSU) and the Police Complaints Authority (PCA) in each year since 1997 is as follows:
| Unit | 1997–98 | 1998–99 | 1999–2000 | 2000–01 | 2001–02 | 2002–03 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| HMIC | 82 | 83 | 85 | 95 | 102 | 106 |
| PSU | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 17 | 59 |
| PCA | 64 | 60.5 | 65 | 73 | 79.5 | 96 |
Over this period it is estimated that an average of 80 per cent. of HMIC staff were directly employed on inspections. For 2002–03 this equates to 88 staff.
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PSU and PCA do not undertake inspection work.
Pensions
Mr. Heald: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list the (a) funded and (b) unfunded public sector pension schemes for which his Department, its agencies and its non-departmental public bodies are responsible; when the last actuarial valuation was of each scheme; what the value was of the assets at the last actuarial valuation of each scheme; what deficit is disclosed by the last actuarial valuation of each scheme; and if she will make a statement. [104916]
Mr. Bob Ainsworth: The police pension scheme is an unfunded pension scheme with no assets or deficit requiring actuarial valuation. However, the Government Actuary's Department estimated as at 31 March 2001 that the liability in Great Britain for the police pension scheme was about £25 billion.
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