| Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
3 Jun 2003 : Column 366W—continued
Health Scrutiny
John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what his policy is on a chair of a council health scrutiny committee who is paid for this role also being a paid member of a health trust that he or she is scrutinising. [116720]
Mr. Lammy: Committees must take steps to avoid any conflict of interest arising from members' involvement in the bodies or decisions that they are scrutinising. A councillor who is also a non-executive director of a National Health Service body is not excluded from membership of a committee's scrutiny of that NHS body. However, councillors in this position must follow the local authority protocols regarding participation where there is a risk of conflict of interest. Where such a risk is identified, they should consult their monitoring officer for advice on their involvement.
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what recent guidance has been issued to local authorities to assist them to perform their health scrutiny role. [115937]
Mr. Lammy: Overview and Scrutiny of Health—guidance was published on 20 May 2003. Copies are available in the Library.
3 Jun 2003 : Column 367W
This guidance supports the local authority overview and scrutiny powers to review health services.
Health Services (Leeds)
Mr. Truswell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many Accident and Emergency department attendances have occurred at (a) St James's hospital, Leeds and (b) Leeds General Infirmary in each year since 1995. [114812]
Jacqui Smith: The information is not available on an individual hospital site basis, and figures are not available prior to 1998–99. Numbers of accident and emergency attendances at the Leeds Teaching hospitals national health service trust, which includes St James's hospital and the Leeds General Infirmary are shown in the table.
| Period | Total A&E attendances |
|---|---|
| 2002–03 Quarter 3 | 56,034 |
| 2002–03 Quarter 2 | 59,111 |
| 2002–03 Quarter 1 | 59,964 |
| 2001–02 | 236,026 |
| 2000–01 | 236,589 |
| 1999–2000 | 229,313 |
| 1998–99 | 232,172 |
Hepatitis C
Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when he will publish the Action Plan for Hepatitis C. [114733]
Ms Blears: We will be publishing an action plan to underpin implementation of the "Hepatitis C Strategy for England" in the next few months. This will form part of a blood-borne viruses action plan, as proposed in the Chief Medical Officer's infectious diseases strategy, "Getting Ahead of the Curve".
Hospital Beds
David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many beds were available in the Hull and East Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust in the last quarter for which figures are available; and how many were available in the preceding four quarters. [116765]
Jacqui Smith: I refer the right hon. Member to the response I gave him on 28 March 2003, Official Report, column 444W.
Hospital Food
Mr. Wray: To ask the Secretary of State for Health which hospitals have privatised food providers; what measures are in place to ensure they provide good quality food; and what action can be taken against companies that fail to maintain standards. [115159]
Mr. Lammy: The information requested is not currently collected centrally.
Individual hospitals are responsible for monitoring the quality of food provided, including through regular surveys of patient satisfaction. Contracts with private companies providing catering services in the National Health Service should have clear procedures to be
3 Jun 2003 : Column 368W
followed in the event that required standards are not achieved or maintained which may ultimately lead to termination of the contract.
Hospital Hygiene
Mr. Wray: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many hospitals have privatised cleaning services; and what measures are in place to ensure that cleaning companies keep high standards. [115157]
Mr. Lammy: The information requested is not currently collected.
Monitoring of cleaning standards on a day to day basis is the responsibility of individual National Health Service trusts and contracts with private companies providing cleaning services should have clear procedures to be followed in the event that required standards are not achieved.
Mr. Wray: To ask the Secretary of State for Health which hospitals have failed to maintain cleaning standards in the last three years; whether they have privatised cleaning services; and what action is taken against companies that do not keep to high cleaning standards. [115158]
Mr. Lammy: The first inspections of hospital cleanliness, undertaken by patient environment action teams in 2000, assessed 253 hospitals' environmental standards, including standards of cleanliness, as poor. Following the assessments in autumn 2001, this number reduced to nil and that position was maintained in 2002. Results for 2003 are not yet available.
Monitoring of cleaning standards on a day-to-day basis is the responsibility of individual National Health Service trusts. Contracts with private companies providing cleaning services should have clear procedures to be followed in the event that required standards are not achieved, which may range from additional cleaning to termination of the contract.
Laming Report
Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate he has made of the cost of the implementation of recommendations in the Laming Report for each local authority in England. [116469]
Jacqui Smith: 56 of the recommendations have been accepted as basic good practice, already set out in Government guidance. This good practice should already be in place in local authorities, health bodies and the police, and is covered within the budgets already allocated. The response to the Inquiry, covering all the other recommendations, will be made as part of the Green Paper on Children at Risk.
Local Authority Caterers (Salt)
Mr. Steen: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will issue advice to local authorities on guidelines in contacts issued to caterers concerning the levels of salt in foods prepared by them. [114859]
Ms Blears: The Department and the Food Standards Agency (FSA) are in discussion with the Joint Food Service Industry Group about the latest recommendations on salt intakes and how they can be
3 Jun 2003 : Column 369W
taken on board by caterers in the public and private sector. I, together with the FSA, have also written jointly to a wide range of bodies responsible for public sector catering—including local authorities—to draw their attention to the recommendations asking for them to be taken into account when tendering for processed food.
Lymphoedema
Tom Levitt: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what guidance has been given on the use of manual lymphatic drainage in the treatment of lymphoedema; [116738]
- (2) pursuant to his answer to the hon .Member for Birmingham, Selly Oak of 29th April 2003, Official Report, column 341W, on lymphoedema, what guidance (a) NICE and (b) other NHS advisory bodies give for the treatment of non-cancer related lymphoedema; [116737]
(3) what guidance is given to GPs on the treatment of non-cancer related lymphoedema; [116740]
(4) if manual lymphatic drainage is included in the training of physiotherapists. [116739]
Jacqui Smith: The National Institute for Clinical Excellence has issued guidance on the use of drugs for non-Hodgkin's lynphoma and chronic myeloid leukaemia, but not on non-cancer related lymphoedema. We have offered no guidance to general practitioners or other heal professionals on the use of manual lymphatic drainage in the treatment of lymphoedema.
The principles of manual lymphatic drainage are taught to physiotherapists as part of their training. The decision on whether to go on and specialise in this area is one for individual physiotherapists to make.
There is currently no cure but, with appropriate treatment, lymphoedema can be very well managed in the national health service. These treatments consist of a combination of skin care, exercise, massage and compression garments or bandaging. In a few cases it is possible to help surgically, for example by transplanting lymph vessels.
ME
Mr. Steen: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what recommendations have been made by the Chief Medical Officer to treat symptoms of myalgic encephalomyelitis. [113797]
Jacqui Smith [holding answer 19 May 2003]: The Chief Medical Officer has made no recommendations for treatment of this condition. We are, however, taking steps to improve services for patients with this condition. I refer the honourable Member to the response I gave him on Monday 19 May, Official Report, columns 610–11W, for information on the research initiatives, which will be looking at the effectiveness of various treatments to improve services for patients with chronic fatigue syndrome/myalgic encephalomyelitis (CFS/ME).
I announced funding of £8.5 million on 12 May to develop services for people with CFS/ME. In July, health organisations will be invited to bid for
3 Jun 2003 : Column 370W
development funds to set up centres of expertise to develop clinical care, support clinical research and expand education and training programmes for health care professionals and to establish satellite community multidisciplinary teams. The first phase of development will commence in April 2004.
Mr. Steen: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans there are to recruit specialists to whom GPs can refer patients with symptoms of myalgic encephalomyelitis; and if he will make a statement. [113798]
Jacqui Smith [holding answer 19 May 2003]: Decisions on the staffing configuration for treating particular patient groups, including those with chronic fatigue syndrome/myalgic encephalomyelitis (CFS/ME), are best made at a local level.
We are however, taking steps to improve services for patients with CFS/ME. I announced funding of £8.5 million on 12 May to develop services for people with CFS/ME.
The Medical Research Council (MRC) published a research strategy for CFS/ME on 1 May. The strategy will enable researchers and funders to develop research proposals on all aspects of this illness. It was developed by an independent research advisory group in response to a request from the Chief Medical Officer and was informed by contributions from patients, carers, charities, researchers and clinicians via a consultation exercise in summer 2002.
The MRC has announced two initiatives in response to the strategy. One is a notice to the research community welcoming high quality proposals across the entire spectrum of CFS/ME research. The other is a scientific meeting to discuss the potential to use existing United Kingdom resources and infrastructures to undertake epidemiological studies in this country. In addition, the MRC has just announced funding, on 15 May 2003, for two trials that will look at the effectiveness of various treatments for CFS/ME. The results of these trials will help patients and their doctors to choose the best treatment. These complementary trials will assess a variety of treatments and in doing so will both help address important issues for those with CFS/ME.
The first trial, known as PACE—"Pacing, Activity and Cognitive behaviour therapy: a randomised Evaluation"—will make the first assessment of a treatment choice popular with patients called "Pacing". The second trial, known as FINE—"Fatigue Intervention by Nurses Evaluation"—will test two different treatments that are particularly suited to helping reach those who are too ill to attend a specialist clinic as patients will be treated by nurses in their own homes.
| Next Section | Index | Home Page |