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28 Jun 2004 : Column 101W—continued

Mobile Phone Masts

Mrs. Gillan: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister for what reasons the planning guidelines on mobile phone masts laid down by the Government in PPG8—Telecommunications 2001 state that authorities should respond positively to proposals for telecommunications development, with particular reference to their application to locations usually subject to policies of restraint. [179865]

Yvette Cooper: The reasons for the guidelines are set out in PPG8 itself. PPG8 states that:

"The aim of telecommunications policy is to ensure that people have a choice as to who provides their telecommunications service, a wider range of services from -which to choose and equitable access to the latest technologies as they become available.

The Government places great emphasis on its well-established national polices for the protection of the countryside and urban areas—in particular the National Parks (Including the Broads and New Forest), Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty, Sites of Special Scientific Interest, the Green Belts, the Heritage Coast and areas and buildings of architectural or historic importance.

While local planning authorities are encouraged to respond positively to telecommunications development proposals they should take account of the advice on the protection of urban and rural areas in other planning policy guidance notes."

Mrs. Gillan: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister for what reasons the planning guidelines on mobile phone masts laid down by the Government in PPG8—Telecommunications 2001 state that provided a proposal meets the International Commission on Non-ionising Radiation guidelines for public exposure, it should not be necessary for a local planning authority to consider further the health aspects and concerns about them. [179866]

Yvette Cooper: The Government's advice is based on the expert opinion of the Independent Expert Group on Mobile Phones (IEGMP). In their report published in May 2000 they recommended that, as a precautionary approach, the International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection (ICNIRP) guidelines for public exposure be adopted for use in the UK.
 
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HEALTH

Suicide Attempts (Adolescents)

Mr. Willis: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will estimate the number of attempted suicides of adolescent (a) males and (b) females in each year since 1997. [179059]

Ms Rosie Winterton: It is not possible to estimate numbers of attempted suicides. However, the number of episodes in national health service hospitals with a primary diagnosis of injury and poisoning, and a cause of self inflicted injury in England by age group and gender are shown in the table.
Finished consultant episodes with primary diagnosis of injury or poisoning and a cause of self inflicted injury, by age group and sex, 1997–98 to 2002–03 NHS hospitals, England

	Under 16			16–18
	Male	Female	All persons	Male	Female	All persons
2002–03	1,129	5,634	6,763	1,485	3,897	5,382
2001–02	1,219	5,148	6,368	1,692	4,182	5,874
2000–01	1,127	4,820	5,974	1,861	4,296	6,159
1999–2000	1,218	4,635	5,863	1,867	4,096	5,969
1998–99	1,111	4,206	5,318	2,155	4,212	6,371
1997–98	1,180	4,913	6,126	2,360	4,729	7,160

	19 or over			All ages
	Male	Female	All persons	Male	Female	All persons
2002–03	26,675	31,400	58,086	29,355	40,967	70,336
2001–02	28,078	32,733	60,821	31,107	42,184	73,377
2000–01	30,106	33,250	63,367	33,172	42,414	75,630
1999–2000	31,249	33,586	64,895	34,392	42,361	76,833
1998–1999	32,816	33,168	66,020	36,153	41,612	77,811
1997–98	34,330	35,434	70,187	37,951	45,110	83,590

Notes:
Unknown age or sex
All persons and All ages totals may not agree with the sum of age or sex breakdown figures due to episodes where age and/or sex of patient is unknown.
Finished Consultant Episode (FCE)
An FCE is defined as a period of admitted patient care under one consultant within one healthcare provider. Please note that the figures do not represent the number of patients, as a person may have more than one episode of care within the year.
Diagnosis (Primary Diagnosis)
The primary diagnosis is the first of up to 14 (7 prior to 2002–03) diagnosis fields in the Hospital Episode Statistics (HES) data set and provides the main reason why the patient was in hospital. IDCD-10 codes SOO-T98 have been used in his analysis.
Cause Code
The cause code is a supplementary code that indicates the nature of any external cause of injury, poisoning or other adverse effects. Cause codes X60-X84 have been used for this analysis.
Grossing
Figures are grossed for both coverage and missing/invalid clinical data, except for 2001–02 and 2002–03, which are not yet adjusted for shortfalls.
Source:
Hospital Episode Statistics (HES), Department of Health.

Alcohol-related Illness

Mr. Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people have been treated for alcohol-related accidents or illnesses at Chorley Hospital in each of the last five years. [180059]

 
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Miss Melanie Johnson: The information requested is collected on a national health service trust basis. The table shows information for the Lancashire Teaching
 
28 Jun 2004 : Column 104W
 
Hospitals NHS Trust, which was formed in 2002 and its predecessor bodies.
Count of finished admissions, 1998–99 to 2002–03: Diagnosis of "alcohol-related accidents"—Selected health authorities of treatment by provider of treatment NHS hospitals, England

	1998–99	1999–2000	2000–01	2001–02	2002–03
Chorley and South Ribble NHS Trust	100	0	84	97	—
Preston Acute Hospitals NHS Trust	192	379	292	377	—
Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust	—	—		—	552

Count of finished admissions, 1998–99 to 2002–03: Diagnosis of "alcohol-related illnesses"—Selected health authorities of treatment by provider of treatment NHS hospitals, England

	1998–99	1999–2000	2000–01	2001–02	2002–03
Chorley and South Ribble NHS Trust	165	—	128	160	—
Preston Acute Hospitals NHS Trust	198	411	231	224	—
Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust	—	—	—	—	383

Notes:
Finished admission episodes
A finished admission episode is the first period of in-patient care under one consultant within one healthcare provider. Please note that admissions do not represent the number of in-patients, as a person may have more than one admission within the year.
Diagnosis (Primary Diagnosis)
The primary diagnosis is the first of up to 14 (7 prior to 2002–03) diagnosis fields in the Hospital Episode Statistics (HES) data set and provides the main reason why the patient was in hospital.
*ICD-10 codes = "alcohol related accidents" as advised by NHSIA Clinical Coding Service
Primary Diagnosis
SOO-T74 Injuries (excludes certain cause of injury)
Secondary Diagnosis
F10.—Mental and behavioural disorders due to use of alcohol
R78.0 Finding of alcohol in blood
Y90.—Evidence of alcohol involvement determined by alcohol level
Y91.—Evidence of alcohol involvement determined by level of intoxication.
Ungrossed Data
Figures have not been adjusted for shortfalls in data (i.e. the data are ungrossed).
1999–2000 figures
A combined return for the two trusts was made in 1999–2000.
Source:
Hospital Episode Statistics (HES), Department of Health

Chlamydia

Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to his Answer of 5 May 2004, Official Report, column 1612W, on chlamydia, if he will publish the advice of the National Screening Committee giving the reasons for the phased introduction of nationwide chlamydia screening. [179680]

Miss Melanie Johnson: This advice is not contained in the United Kingdom national screening committee's (NSC) published reports to date. The NSC endorsed the findings of the evaluation of the chlamydia screening pilot, which is published on the Department's website at www.dh.gov.uk. One of the recommendations was that the immediate introduction of a complete national programme was not viable, but a phased introduction was recommended instead. Dr. Muir Gray, programme director of the NSC, discussed the phased approach to the introduction of screening programmes in his witness statement to the Health Select Committee on 9 January 2003,—"Health Committee, Third Report of Session 2002–03, volume ii: oral and written evidence"—which is available in the Library.

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