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26 Apr 2004 : Column 830W—continued
National Security
Llew Smith: To ask the Prime Minister what definition of national security is used by the Government. [168789]
The Prime Minister: There is no statutory definition of national security. The courts accept that the interpretation of what is national security is, within a wide margin of appreciation, a matter for the Secretary of State to determine on a case-by-case basis.
Washington Meeting
Llew Smith: To ask the Prime Minister what matters in respect of (a) compliance with the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and (b) ratification of the Kyoto Protocol on climate change were discussed during his meeting with President Bush on 16 April in Washington. [168775]
The Prime Minister: I discussed a wide range of issues with President Bush, including Iraq, the Middle East Peace Process and other international security issues. As with previous Administrations, it is not the practice of this Government to make public all the details of discussions with foreign Governments.
Yemen
Keith Vaz: To ask the Prime Minister what steps the British Government is taking to keep allies informed of developments in the fight against terrorism, with particular reference to the Yemen. [168075]
The Prime Minister:
We have regular contact with our key international counter terrorism partners including the Yemeni Government.
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HEALTH
Social Services Departments
Mr. Dhanda: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps he is taking to ensure that local authority social services departments abide by confidentiality guidelines. [167594]
Dr. Ladyman: The protection of privacy and confidentiality by local authority social services is one of the criteria taken into account in the course of the inspection and assessment of performance carried out by the Commission for Social Care Inspection.
The Department has carried out a range of activities to ensure local authority compliance with confidentiality guidelines. In 2001, the Caldicott principles and processes for the management of confidentiality and access to personal information were extended from the National Health Service into social care. At this time, councils with social services responsibilities (CSSRs) were required to appoint social care Caldicott guardians to take the lead in this within their organisations. The Department has issued guidance on confidentiality issues and is currently preparing an information governance toolkit for social care, which will include further guidance on confidentiality and information sharing.
Accident and Emergency Departments
Brian Cotter: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many patients were admitted to the accident and emergency departments at (a) Weston General Hospital, (b) the Royal United Hospital, Bath and (c) the Frenchay Hospital, Bristol in each of the last five years. [167500]
Ms Rosie Winterton [holding answer 23 April 2004]: Information on the number of attendances at accident and emergency for each National Health Service trust is published and available at http://www.perfornriance. doh.gov.uk/hospitalactivity.
Copies of the tables for each quarter from 2001–02 are available in the Library. Prior to this, information was published annually in Outpatient and ward attenders, England, copies of which are available in the Library.
Brian Cotter: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what funding has been made available for the accident and emergency departments at (a) Weston General Hospital, (b) the Royal United Hospital, Bath and (c) the Frenchay Hospital, Bristol in each of the last five years. [167501]
Ms Rosie Winterton [holding answer 23 April 2004]: The information requested is not held centrally.
Agency Nurses
Mr. Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much the NHS spent on agency nurses in each year from 1997–98 to 2003–04; and if he will make a statement. [156701]
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Mr. Hutton: The national health service does not separately record the cost of employing agency staff. The figures shown in the table include total cost to the NHS of nurses not directly employed by NHS bodies.
Expenditure by the NHS on non-NHS nurses is shown in the table. The figures include all agency nursing staff and any other staff not directly employed by NHS trusts, primary care trusts and strategic health authorities. Information is not yet available for 2003–04.
| Amount | |
|---|---|
| 1997–98 | 216,338,567 |
| 1998–99 | 272,225,162 |
| 1999–2000 | 361,656,683 |
| 2000–01 | 435,431,882 |
| 2001–02 | 554,323,821 |
| 2002–03 | 627,889,817 |
Note:
2002–03 data remains provisional.
Source:
Annual Financial Returns of NHS Trusts 1997–98 to 2002–03.
Annual Financial Returns of Health Authorities 1997–98 to 2001–02.
Annual Financial returns of Primary Care Trusts 2000–01 to 2002–03.
Annual Financial Returns of Strategic Health Authorities 2002–03.
Ambulance Service
Mr. Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what guidance his Department issues in relation to the maximum time which ambulances should take in transporting pregnant mothers to hospitals in emergencies. [167486]
Ms Rosie Winterton [holding answer 22 April 2004]: All patients requiring urgent hospital treatment should be transported to hospital without delay. There are no maximum transport times which ambulances should take in transporting pregnant mothers to hospitals in emergencies. There are, however, targets for response times. As with all emergency calls to ambulance services, guidance on response times is based on medical need.
Current ambulance response targets include:
Category A calls: Presenting conditions which may be immediately life threatening and which should be responded to within eight minutes irrespective of location in 75 per cent. of cases.
Category B calls: Presenting conditions which though serious are not immediately life threatening and should be responded to within 14 minutes (urban) and 19 minutes (rural) in 95 per cent. of cases.
Autopsies
Mr. Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what action his Department is taking to encourage hospitals to carry out autopsies. [166731]
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Ms Rosie Winterton: The decision as to whether to request a hospital post-mortem examination is for the treating clinician and the deceased's family. However, we are aware that in the past the taking and use of organs and tissue without consent at post-mortems has damaged public and professional confidence in the hospital post-mortem examination.
We have issued new guidance to the national health service to help restore that confidence. This takes the form of a code of practice for those involved in communicating with families where a post-mortem may be necessary or desirable. It includes a revision of the consent forms required to be completed by relatives with the aim of helping families understand the procedure and enabling them to grant an informed consent to a post-mortem and the disposal of organs or tissue. This guidance is available on the Department's website at: www.dh.gov.uk/tissue Later this year we will be making available to NHS trusts a short video/DVD produced with the support of the Royal College of Pathologists that explains the reasons for, and benefits to be obtained from, a post-mortem and encouraging the consent of families to the procedure.
We are also taking positive action to change the law to secure further changes to re-establish confidence. The Human Tissue Bill, currently before Parliament, ensures that whatever is done with the human body and its parts after death within the NHS will be done only as part of a transparent process and with appropriate consent. It will also introduce penalties for organ retention without consent as additional reassurance for the integrity of the new procedures.
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