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Written Answers to Questions

Tuesday 16 September 2003

HEALTH

Acrylamide

14. Mr. Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what recent guidance the Chief Medical Officer has issued to the public regarding the incidence of acrylamide in baked and fried food. [129962]

Miss Melanie Johnson: Following the discovery of acrylamide in a range of foods, the Food Standards Agency advises that people should continue to eat a balanced diet including moderating their consumption of fried and fatty foods. The Agency continues to review this advice as further information on acrylamide becomes available.

Prostate Cancer

16. Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what his Department's strategy is for tackling prostate cancer. [129964]

Miss Melanie Johnson: Good progress has been made since we published the Prostate Cancer Programme in September 2000. £4.2 million will be spent on research in 2003–04, the Prostate Cancer Risk Management Programme has been launched, and the Prostate Cancer Advisory Group has been established to take forward policy on prostate cancer.

Nurses

17. Mrs. Roe: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on retention of nurses. [129965]

Mr. Hutton: The Government are implementing a range of measures to retain more nurses. These include increasing the health care workforce, improving pay and conditions, encouraging the NHS to become a better, more flexible and diverse employer, investing in child care and continuing professional development, tackling violence and creating safe and healthy working environments.

18. Mr. Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on the recruitment and retention of nurses. [129966]

Mr. Hutton: The Government are implementing a range of measures to recruit more health care professionals. These include improving pay and conditions, encouraging the NHS to become a better, more flexible and diverse employer, increasing training, investing in child care and continuing professional development, attracting back returners and running national and international recruitment campaigns.

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Acute Hospitals

19. Mr. Luff: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the overall capacity of the acute hospital sector in Worcestershire. [129967]

Dr. Ladyman: Significant investment has been made available nationally to accommodate the required increase in national health service capacity. Primary Care Trust revenue allocations for the three Worcestershire PCTs will rise to £426 million in 2003–04 and will reach £510 million by 2005–06, an overall total increase of 30.4 per cent., for the three years up to 2005–06.

Prior to the completion of the Worcestershire Royal hospital there were 1,035 acute beds in Worcestershire. Since the opening of the new hospital there are 1,044 acute beds available in the county.

Patient Environment Action Team Programme

20. Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the patient environment action team programme. [129968]

Mr. Hutton: We have recently worked with a larger number of NHS colleagues to refine the PEAT process in the light of experience to date. This review confirmed that the system has been a major factor in ensuring that all hospitals meet acceptable standards or better in terms of the patient environment. The NHS is to be congratulated for the progress it has made. The PEAT programme has been extended to include Mental Health and Accident and Emergency units, demonstrating the importance we continue to attach to this, and the need for the NHS to continue to focus on high standards.

Infection Prevention

21. Richard Younger-Ross: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what action his Department is taking to prevent patients from catching infections in health care settings. [129969]

Miss Melanie Johnson: We already have standards to ensure there is a managed environment which minimises the risk of infection to patients, staff and visitors. Hospitals' performance against these has improved over the last three years. For the first time this year these standards and an MRSA improvement score contributed to the star ratings. The Chief Medical Officer is leading a new initiative to produce a longer-term strategy to reduce health care associated infections.

Locum Consultants

22. Mr. Peter Duncan: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much has been spent on locum consultants in the NHS in the last year for which figures are available. [129970]

Mr. Hutton: The information requested is not collected centrally.

Hospital Building Programme

23. James Purnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on the hospital building programme. [129971]

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Mr. Hutton: Since 2000, 39 hospitals have been opened, and a further 18 are being built. There are 54 hospitals in procurement through the private finance initiative process. This is the biggest hospital building programme in the history of the NHS, replacing old and outmoded buildings with facilities fit for the 21st Century.

Atkinson Morley Hospital

24. Roger Casale: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what representations he has received about the disposal of the Atkinson Morley hospital site in Wimbledon. [129972]

Mr. Hutton: I have received no representations. However, I am aware that St. George's Healthcare NHS Trust has recently submitted a planning application for redevelopment of the Atkinson Morley hospital site, the Firs Nursing Home and a large area of open space, following the reprovision of services at St. George's hospital, Tooting.

The proposed development comprises 149 residential units accessed from Copse Hill and associated car parking.

People with Communication Difficulties

Mr. Cameron: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what advice the Department has given to (a) Government Departments and (b) others who consult with people who have communication difficulties about how that consultation should be carried out. [123393]

Mr. Hutton: The Department of Health has not issued formal guidance.

NHS Dentistry

Mr. Wray: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what measures are in place to control the levels of charging for (a) repairing teeth from mottling and (b) other cosmetic dental work by NHS dentists. [129963]

Ms Rosie Winterton: All dental treatment necessary to secure and maintain oral health is available under the national health service, including the facing of upper front teeth with porcelain veneers to correct teeth mottling. Patients liable to pay NHS dental charges will pay 80 per cent. of the NHS fee paid to the dentists for the service.

Tuberculosis

Mr. Dalyell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will discuss trends in the incidence of tuberculosis with the World Health Organisation. [129961]

Dr. Ladyman: Colleagues in the Department and at the Health Protection Agency are regularly invited to speak at and attend World Health Organisation conferences on tuberculosis.

We provide on a regular basis, trends of TB in this country as well as receiving information from the WHO on trends from other countries.

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DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER

Domestic Violence

Mr. Byers: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what steps he will take to increase the provision of accommodation available to women victims of domestic violence. [130038]

Yvette Cooper: The Government are committed to increasing the full range of accommodation options for victims of domestic violence including more refuges and better help to support victims to stay in their own homes if appropriate. The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister is investing £8.9 million this financial year in refuge provision and an additional £9.9 million has been allocated by the Housing Corporation. The money is being used by Registered Social Landlords, in partnership with local refuge providers and local authorities to provide 273 units of accommodation in all regions in England. The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister has also committed £7 million in each of the next two financial years towards similar projects which will also be administered through the Housing Corporation.

In addition, the Supporting People programme enables local authorities to provide housing related support services for victims of domestic violence. This year £34 million has been allocated to domestic violence schemes including accommodation and non-accommodation based services.

Domestic violence can be a significant cause of homelessness. Under the homelessness legislation, people who are vulnerable as a result of fleeing their home because of violence (including domestic violence) have a priority need for accommodation. Moreover, all local housing authorities in England are now required to have a strategy for preventing homelessness in the district and ensuring that accommodation and any necessary support are available for people who are homeless or at risk of homelessness. All authorities were required to have a homelessness strategy in place by 30 July 2003. The Homelessness Directorate is providing £260 million between 2003–04 and 2005–06 in support of local housing authorities' efforts to tackle homelessness. A number of authorities are using this funding to improve the support available to victims of domestic violence in order to prevent homelessness among this client group.

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