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19 May 2003 : Column 598W—continued
Tourism
Mr. Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what public funding has been provided to the Northern Ireland Tourist Board over the past five years; and what research has been undertaken to ascertain the opinions of visitors to the Province, other than those visiting friends and relatives, regarding the facilities on offer. [112611]
Mr. Pearson: The total amount of public funding provided to the Northern Ireland Tourist Board over the past five years was £66,504,000.
The following is a breakdown of the public funding provided in each of these years.
| £ million | |
|---|---|
| 1998–99 | 14,162 |
| 1999–2000 | 12,583 |
| 2000–01 | 13,445 |
| 2001–02 | 13,180 |
| 2002–03 | 13,134 |
NITB carried out surveys in 1995, 1998 and 2000 of visitors on holiday in Northern Ireland to identify factors important to them when choosing a holiday destination and to rate Northern Ireland against those factors. As part of the survey, participants were asked to rate their satisfaction with a range of Northern Ireland tourism products and services. A further survey is planned for summer 2003.
Victims Organisations
Mr. McNamara: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland by what means he monitors publicly-funded publishing activities of (a) Families Acting for Innocent Relatives and (b) other victims' organisations. [108442]
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Mr. Paul Murphy: To answer my hon. Friend's question will require substantial research. I will give a substantive reply when this is complete. A copy of the letter will be placed in the Library.
Mr. McNamara: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what guidance he has issued to (a) Families Acting for Innocent Relatives and (b) other victims' organisations on the use of publicly-funded internet facilities to publish information. [108658]
Mr. Paul Murphy: To answer the hon. Gentleman's question will require substantial research. I will give a substantive reply when this is complete.
HEALTH
"Agenda for Change"
Mr. Wray: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what discussions he has had with unions regarding the Agenda for Change; and what progress has been made in ensuring that pay and conditions for staff are the same across the NHS in all hospitals. [112829]
Mr. Hutton: The proposed new pay system for non-medical staff in the national health service, "Agenda for Change", has been designed to ensure fair pay and conditions of service and is underpinned by equal pay principles. Negotiators representing the four United Kingdom Health Departments, NHS employers and 17 NHS staff organisations successfully concluded talks on the package of pay modernisation proposals in November 2002. The Department of Health published full details of the proposed agreement on 3 March 2003. Copies are available in the Library.
If the proposed agreement is ratified following consultation by staff organisations, it will be introduced in a number of early implemented sites from June 2003 and will be implemented across the rest of the NHS from October 2004. We intend that those NHS trusts chosen as prospective NHS foundation trusts will form a further wave of "early implementer" sites before national implementation of the new pay system begins.
The information in this answer relates to England. Pay for NHS staff in Scotland and Wales is a matter for the devolved administrations. While the institutions in Northern Ireland are dissolved, responsibility rests with Ministers in the Northern Ireland Office.
Mr. Wray: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what measures are in place to ensure that foundation trusts will not be able to deviate from the "Agenda for Change" process and develop their own pay and conditions for staff. [112830]
Mr. Hutton: If the proposed new national health service pay system, "Agenda for Change", is ratified following consultation by staff organisations, we intend that those NHS organisations chosen as prospective NHS foundation trusts will become early implementer sites. This would mean they begin to implement the new pay system in advance of national implementation from October 2004.
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Under the proposed agreement, NHS foundation trusts will be among the organisations specifically represented on the new NHS Staff Council and the Pay Negotiating Council for NHS staff groups not within the remit of the Pay Review Bodies.
The proposed agreement includes a range of pay flexibilities for all NHS organisations. NHS foundation trusts, as NHS organisations with a track record of good performance, will have greater freedom to use these flexibilities.
Accident and Emergency (Waiting Times)
Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Health in what week the most recent NHS-wide assessment of accident and emergency waiting times was carried out. [111030]
Mr. Lammy: We continually monitor performance of accident and emergency (A and E) waiting times and publish the results every quarter.
A national health service-wide assessment of total time in A and E was carried out in the week ending 30 March to assess performance against the national end of March 2003 milestone for 90 per cent. of patients in England to be admitted, transferred or discharged within four hours of arrival at accident and emergency.
Air Quality
Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the possible impact on health of the bad odours affecting Castle Point, with particular reference to (a) children, (b) elderly people and (c) people with breathing conditions; and what advice he provides to these groups on how to deal with the effects of bad odour. [113790]
Mr. Lammy [holding answer 16 May 2003]: The existence of intermittent bad odours related to local refineries and landfill sites in the Castle Point area has been known for some time. Castle Point and Rochford Primary Care Trust are unaware of any medical evidence that people in the area are clinically affected.
Asthma
John Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what action he is taking to promote guidance for asthma sufferers to control the condition during the summer months; [113108]
- (2) what action he is taking to improve treatment for asthma sufferers. [113197]
Jacqui Smith: We are aware that the summer months can cause particular problems for patients with asthma because of factors such as high pollen counts. This phenomenon is however, well understood by both clinicians and patients so we do not feel that specific extra guidance is needed to help manage this. Patients with asthma are able to access the full range of national health service support services in both primary and secondary care settings throughout the entire year.
We have welcomed guidance from the National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE) on inhalers for children under five in September 2000 and for older children, in the age range five to 15, on 11 April 2002.
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The NICE recommendations provide clear evidence based on guidance on the most suitable inhalers for children.
A new general medical services contract agreement was launched on Friday 21 February 2003 which, if accepted by the profession, will lead to an unprecedented level of new investment in general practice to deliver a wider range of high quality services with better clinical outcomes for all patients.
The national service framework (NSF) for children is being developed to set standards for the care of children and young people to ensure they have access to good quality care. While it is not the intention to look at specific conditions in the NSF, it has been agreed that asthma, as one of the most common childhood conditions, should be used as one of the exemplars which will accompany the main NSF report. These will illustrate how the standards should be applied to ensure that services delivered to children are effective and meet their needs.
I welcome the publication of the National Asthma Campaign's Ten Point Charter. Those general practitioners who participate in the chronic disease management programme, around 93 per cent. of all GPs, are already providing services that help to meet many of the charter rights.
Bed Rails
Mr. Gordon Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment (a) his Department and (b) the Medical Devices Agency has made of the effectiveness of bumpers in reducing incidents associated with the use of bed rails. [113040]
Jacqui Smith: As part of its evaluation programme on Disability Equipment, the Medical Devices Agency, now the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency, published a report on bed safety equipment in February 2002—EL8 "Bed Safety Equipment—An Evaluation"; ISBN 1–84182–568–9.
The report gives information and guidelines to assist users, purchasers and providers to identify and select the most appropriate bed safety product, or product features, to meet the individual needs of different users.
The combined use of bed safety rails and protective covers, or bumpers, was evaluated and described in the report. The report concluded that covers for bed rails are primarily used to prevent impact injuries. They will not necessarily reduce the risk of entrapment and should not, therefore, be regarded as a means to prevent entrapment.
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