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30 Jun 2003 : Column 144W—continued
Funeral Industry
Mr. Olner: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what representations he has received from the funeral industry about the possibility of infection from the handling of infected bodies where proper notification has not been given to the relevant funeral director; and what action he plans to take; [115477]
- (2) what his estimate is of the number of infected bodies removed by the funeral industry from NHS hospitals and other premises in each of the last five years; [115479]
(3) if he will list the differences between the regulations and arrangements for the notification of infected bodies in various parts of the UK; and if he will make a statement. [115478]
Miss Melanie Johnson: I refer my hon. Friend to the response given to him by the then Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Public Health on 11 March 2003, Official Report, columns 233–34W, in which it was confirmed that the Department has had contact with the Funeral Directors Professional Association and confirmed that we would keep them informed of any guidance that might be produced on the issue.
Data on the number of infected bodies removed by the funeral industry from national health service hospitals and other premises are not available centrally, but may be available from local NHS trusts.
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Guidance issued by the Health and Safety Commission's Health Service Advisory Committee, "Safer Working and the Prevention of Infection in the Mortuary and Post Mortem Room", applies to all NHS premises in England, Scotland and Wales as does all health and safety legislation under which notification of infected bodies falls. Legislation is slightly different in Northern Ireland, but covers the same issues as in the rest of the United Kingdom. In Wales new guidance will be issued shortly regarding notification by doctors to undertakers and mortuary staff of bodies that have harboured infectious diseases.
The Department will take advantage of new occupational health and safety guidance to be published in the autumn of this year to draw the Health and Safety
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Advisory Committee's (HSAC) guidance to the attention of NHS Health and Safety managers, and remind them of their duties in relation to the removal of infecting bodies by funeral directors.
General Practitioners
Mr. Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many general practitioners working in (a) Bury St. Edmunds, (b) Suffolk, (c) Norfolk, (d) Essex and (e) Cambridgeshire are (i) under 40 years of age, (ii) between 40 and 65 years old and (iii) over 65 years old. [120422]
Mr. Hutton: The information requested, broken down by primary care trust (PCT), is shown in the table.
| Total | Under 40 | 40–64 | 65 plus | Unknown | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| England total | 32,011 | 10,359 | 21,079 | 572 | 1 | |
| Essex SHA | ||||||
| 5GR | Basildon PCT | 56 | 12 | 40 | 4 | — |
| 5GP | Billericay, Brentwood and Wickford PCT | 76 | 23 | 51 | 2 | — |
| 5JP | Castle Point and Rochford PCT | 76 | 10 | 61 | 5 | — |
| 5JN | Chelmsford PCT | 73 | 22 | 50 | 1 | — |
| 5GM | Colchester PCT | 93 | 19 | 74 | — | — |
| 5AJ | Epping Forest PCT | 59 | 24 | 34 | 1 | — |
| 5DC | Harlow PCT | 49 | 13 | 36 | — | — |
| 5GL | Maldon and South Chelmsford PCT | 42 | 7 | 35 | — | — |
| 5AK | Southend on Sea PCT | 85 | 11 | 71 | 3 | — |
| 5AH | Tendering PCT | 71 | 13 | 56 | 2 | — |
| 5GQ | Thurrock PCT | 68 | 13 | 51 | 4 | — |
| 5GN | Uttlesford PCT | 53 | 17 | 36 | — | — |
| 4MH24 | Witham, Braintree and Halstead PCT | 73 | 16 | 57 | — | — |
| Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire SHA | ||||||
| 5JL | Broadland PCT | 80 | 21 | 59 | — | — |
| 5JH | Cambridge City PCT | 104 | 33 | 71 | — | — |
| 5JT | Central Suffolk PCT | 61 | 21 | 40 | — | — |
| 5JK | East Cambridgeshire and Fenland PCT | 98 | 38 | 60 | — | — |
| 5GT | Great Yarmouth PCT | 56 | 14 | 42 | — | — |
| 5GF | Huntingdonshire PCT | 101 | 37 | 64 | — | — |
| 5JQ | Ipswich PCT | 88 | 28 | 60 | — | — |
| 5JM | North Norfolk PCT | 76 | 32 | 43 | 1 | — |
| 5AF | North Peterborough PCT | 56 | 5 | 49 | 2 | — |
| 5A2 | Norwich PCT | 97 | 35 | 61 | 1 | — |
| 5JJ | South Cambridgeshire PCT | 71 | 25 | 45 | 1 | — |
| SAG | South Peterborough PCT | 58 | 14 | 44 | — | — |
| 5G1 | Southern Norfolk PCT | 126 | 34 | 92 | — | — |
| 5JR | Suffolk Coastal PCT | 69 | 20 | 49 | — | — |
| 5JW | Suffolk West PCT | 148 | 46 | 102 | — | — |
| 5JV | Waveney PCT | 79 | 15 | 63 | 1 | — |
| 5CY | West Norfolk PCT | 94 | 24 | 70 | — | — |
Notes:
(29) All Practitioners include CMS Unrestricted Principals, PMS Contracted GPs, PMS Salaried GPs, Restricted Principals, Assistants, GP Registrars, Salaried Doctors (Para 52 SFA), PMS Other and GP Retainers.
"—" Denotes zero
Source:
Department of Health General and Personal Medical Services Statistics
Health Checks (Children)
Mr. Paul Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what health checks have been made on children at (a) infant schools, (b) primary schools and (c) secondary schools in each strategic health authority in each year since 1997. [121586]
Dr. Ladyman: The information requested is not collected centrally.
Hepatitis C
Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) if he will collect comparative treatment rates for hepatitis C from health services of the developed world; and if he will make a statement; [121225]
- (2) if he will undertake a study of best practice in (a) screening for and (b) treating hepatitis C within the developed world; [121226]
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(3) what requests for information, advice or assistance on best practice with regard to treatment of hepatitis C he has made to countries with higher rates of treatment of hepatitis C. [121227]
Miss Melanie Johnson: The Department published its consultation document, "Hepatitis C Strategy for England", in August 2002, with proposals to improve the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of hepatitis C. The strategy was developed with a multi-disciplinary steering group, membership of which included a range of health care professionals, academics who were experts in this field, and stakeholder voluntary organisation representatives. In developing the strategy, we took account of how other countries have tackled issues relating to hepatitis C.
We intend to publish an action plan to take forward implementation of the hepatitis C strategy. 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".
Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what proportion of patients suffering from florid hepatitis C are treated under National Institute for Clinical Excellence guidelines. [121228]
Miss Melanie Johnson: I refer the hon. Member to the reply given to my hon. Friend the Member for Bassetlaw (John Mann), by the then Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health on 5 December 2002, Official Report, column 963–64W.
Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps he will take to reduce nosocomial transmission of hepatitis C. [121229]
Miss Melanie Johnson: Measures are already in place to prevent the transmission of hepatitis C via blood transfusions or receipt of blood products.
We have produced guidance to assist the national health service in reducing the small risk of nosocomial transmission of hepatitis C through other transmission routes including:
- "Protection against Infection with Blood-borne Viruses: Guidance for Clinical Health Care Workers"—www.doh.gov.uk/chcguid1 (April 1998)
"The epic Project: Developing National Evidence-based Guidelines for Preventing Healthcare Associated Infections"—www.doh.gov.uk/hai/epic (January 2001) 'Commissioned and Funded by the Department of Health'
"Health Service Circular 2002/010: Hepatitis C Infected Health Care Workers"—www.doh.gov.uk/hepatitisc (August 2002)
"Infection Control Standard"—http://212.57.233.60/Standards/docs/Infection%20Control%202002.pdf (2002)
"Good Practice Guidelines for Renal Dialysis/Transplantation Units: prevention and control of blood-borne virus infection"—www.doh.gov.uk/cmo/renalguide (September 2002)
"Health Clearance for Serious Communicable Diseases: New Health Care Workers" (draft guidance for consultation—www.doh.gov.uk/healthclear (January 2003)
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