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19 May 2004 : Column 1008W—continued

Failed Appointments

Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many and what percentage of patients failed to attend NHS appointments in (a) England, (b) each region and (c) each strategic health authority in each year since 1997. [172708]

Mr. Hutton: The information is shown in the tables.
England: out-patient non-attendance rates

	Number of patients who did not attend	Percentage of patients who did not attend
1997–98	5,629,429	11.9
1998–99	5,648,971	11.8
1999–2000	5,882,510	12.0
2000–01	5,954,819	12.0
2001–02	5,947,730	11.9
2002–03	5,885,369	11.7

 
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	1998–99		1999–2000		2000–01
NHS Executive Regions	Number of patients who did not attend	Percentage of patients who did not attend	Number of patients who did not attend	Percentage of patients who did not attend	Number of patients who did not attend	Percentage of patients who did not attend
Northern and Yorkshire	742,460	11.8	789,636	12.4	756,921	11.8
Trent	523,492	10.6	541,815	10.8	558,708	10.9
West Midlands	626,061	12.2	642,063	12.2	660,166	12.3
North West	889,697	12.4	909,187	12.4	935,436	12.5
Eastern	417,882	9.6	442,051	9.9	457,356	10.2
London	1,412,961	15.7	1,497,322	15.8	1,481,249	15.7
South East	683,884	10.0	696,046	10.1	733,824	10.4
South West	352,534	8.8	364,390	8.9	371,159	8.9

Notes:
1.   Due to changes in the configuration of regions which took place between 1997–98 and 1998–99, information for 1997–98 is not available on a comparable basis.
2.   The regions were abolished in 2001–02.

	2001–02		2002–03
Strategic Health Authority	Number of patients who did not attend	Percentage of patients who did not attend	Number of patients who did not attend	Percentage of patients who did not attend
Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire HA	166,963	8.5	162,214	8.2
Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire HA	139,738	11.7	137,514	11.0
Essex HA	142,168	10.6	146,876	10.9
North West London HA	360,176	16.6	366,960	15.7
North Central London HA	358,724	15.7	343,41 1	15.4
North East London HA	283,504	16.4	319,770	17.4
South East London HA	356,102	18.7	339,551	17.6
South West London HA	176,100	11.9	166,796	12.5
Northumberland, Tyne and Wear HA	210,232	11.8	193,052	10.5
County Durham and Tees Valley HA	122,341	11.4	121,820	10.8
North and East Yorkshire and Northern Lincolnshire HA	148,395	10.6	129,973	9.8
West Yorkshire HA	280,942	12.4	281,300	12.6
Cumbria and Lancashire HA	176,390	10.4	170,853	10.5
Greater Manchester HA	420,197	12.7	428,425	12.6
Cheshire and Merseyside HA	375,061	13.0	355,203	11.9
Thames Valley HA	173,978	10.3	177,184	10.1
Hampshire and Isle of Wight HA	133,591	9.6	132,192	9.3
Kent and Medway HA	133,673	10.4	135,047	9.7
Surrey and Sussex HA	243,799	10.6	235,515	10.7
Avon, Gloucestershire and Wiltshire HA	179,432	9.1	177,541	9.2
South West Peninsula HA	110,648	8.4	111,395	8.4
Somerset and Dorset HA	73,508	7.7	76,095	7.7
South Yorkshire HA	209,614	11.9	209,162	11.6
Trent HA	223,764	10.1	212,878	9.8
Leicestershire, Northamptonshire and Rutland HA	132,761	10.4	140,875	10.8
Shropshire and Staffordshire HA	118,013	9.6	117,857	9.4
Birmingham and the Black Country HA	353,362	12.3	356,482	12.2
Coventry, Warwickshire, Herefordshire and Worcestershire HA	144,554	11.6	1 39,428	11.0

Note:
Strategic Health Authorities did not exist prior to 2001–02.

Fertility Treatment

Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many licensed clinics providing fertility treatment have obtained licences for embryonic stem cell research. [173381]

Miss Melanie Johnson: Seven clinics licensed to provide fertility treatment have obtained licences for embryonic stem cell research.

Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on the application to the Human Fertilisation Embryology Authority by Professor Alison Murdoch for a licence to create human embryonic stem cell lives using nuclear transfer and parthenogenically activated oocytes. [173434]

Miss Melanie Johnson: Embryo research in the United Kingdom can only be carried out under licence from the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA).
 
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Consideration of the application by Professor Alison Murdoch for a licence to create human embryonic stem cell lines using nuclear transfer and parthenogenically activated oocytes is for the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority to determine under the provisions of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 1990.

Professor Murdoch is on the HFEA's panel of external inspectors for in-vitro fertilisation clinics. The HFEA have procedures in place to avoid using individual external inspectors in circumstances where they could have a conflict of interest.

Foundation Trusts

Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many (a) staff and (b) community electors each foundation trust had at the time of the election for governors; and how many electors took part in each election. [170999]

 
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Mr. Hutton: This is a matter for the Office of the Independent Regulator of NHS Foundation Trusts. The chairman will write to the hon. Member, and a copy of his reply will be placed in the Library.

Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many positions were available on the board of governors for each NHS foundation trust for patients and staff; how many people stood for each position; how many positions were uncontested; and how many positions remain unfilled. [171263]

Mr. Hutton: This is a matter for the Office of the Independent Regulator of NHS Foundation Trusts. The Chairman will write to the hon. Member, and a copy of his reply will be placed in the Library.

Gamete Donation

Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) how much money the Government intends to invest to promote gamete donation; [173379]

(2) what protocols are in place to ensure that no coercive practices are involved in the targeting of gamete donation. [173380]

Miss Melanie Johnson: We announced in January that we are to support the transition to identifiable gamete donors, subject to Parliament's approval of the regulations, by increasing public awareness of the importance of such donors. The investment that we are making in the promotion of gamete donation involves time and effort as well as the provision of funding.

We are working with a range of organisations including the Donor Conception Network, the National Gamete Donation Trust and the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) on collaborative arrangements to encourage the recruitment of identifiable donors. We will be supporting the National Gamete Donation Trust (NGDT) to make contact with fertility clinics about current recruitment arrangements and the dissemination of good practice. The NGDT will also run an improved helpline for people interested in being gamete donors on 0845 226 9193. To date we have decided to provide the NGDT with some £100,000 for this work and are currently in discussion with them about further funding for 2004–05 and 2005–06.

Raising awareness of the value and importance of identifiable gamete donors will also take place in other ways. The HFEA will, for instance, include it as part of their inspections of clinics. We will also be promoting public awareness of gamete donation with other organisations and with the media in preparation for the introduction of identifiable donors from April 2005.

The donation of sperm, eggs or embryos is entirely voluntary. The code of practice issued by the HFEA makes clear that gamete donors must be paid no more than £15 for each donation plus reasonable expenses. It
 
19 May 2004 : Column 1012W
 
also makes clear that where a person is undergoing a treatment cycle, there must be no pressure or undue influence on a patient to donate supernumerary gametes or embryos.

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