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13 Jul 2004 : Column 1109W—continued
Primary Care Centres
Andy King: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) whether the Government achieved its target of delivering 500 primary care centres by April; whether the Government are on track to achieve its target of (a) an additional 125 primary care centres by 2006 and (b) a further 125 primary care centres by 2008; and what the state of progress was at 1 April; [182457]
(2) whether the Government achieved its target of modernising 3,000 general practitioner premises by April. [182458]
Mr. Hutton: The Government are supporting one of the largest and most sustained programmes of modernisation of primary care premises in the history of the national health service.
The target date to deliver 500 one-stop primary care centres and the replacement or refurbishment of up to 3,000 general practitioner practice premises is December 2004. The achievement of the first target will provide a platform to deliver the further targets for more one-stop centres by 2008.
Sunbeds
Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what measures the Department is taking to ensure that tanning outlets are adequately staffed and supervised to supply accurate information and advice on sunbed use to the public regarding (a) the age of customers, (b) the appropriateness of their skin or medical conditions to sunbed use and (c) the use of eye protection while tanning; [183047]
(2) what estimates he has made of (a) the number of people using sunbeds and (b) the total number of sunbed sessions in each of the last 10 years; [183048]
(3) on what medical evidence the recommendation that people under 16 years old should not use sunbeds is based; [183050]
(4) what measures are in place to monitor the effectiveness of the Health and Safety Executive guidelines on keeping sunbed use to a maximum of 20 sessions per person per year; [183051]
(5) what recent steps he has taken, in addition to the Health and Safety Executive guidance, to ensure that
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children and parents are made aware of the health risks arising from sunbed use; and if he will make a statement; [183052]
(6)what action he is taking to ensure that tanning outlets provide accurate information and advice on sunbed use to the public; [183053]
(7) what action he is taking to monitor the implementation of the Health and Safety Executive guidelines on sunbed use. [183054]
Miss Melanie Johnson: The available information on sunbed use is provided as follows.
A Health Education Authority survey in 1999 found that sunbed use is most common in the 16 to 24-year-old age group with around 15 per cent. of this age group having had at least one sunbed session in the previous year.
Statistics published by the sunbed association show that:
8 per cent. of the United Kingdom population use a sunbed (over three million people),
38 per cent. of sunbed users use a sunbed to get a pre holiday tan,
58 per cent. of people say they use sunbeds to look healthier.
There is no conclusive direct evidence that sunbed exposure causes skin cancer from either of the recent reports on the effects of ultra violet radiation (UVR) from the National Radiological Protection Board and from the International Commission on Non-ionising Radiation Protection. The greatest source of UVR exposure is from the sun.
The Health and Safety Executive has recommended that people under 16 should not use sunbeds. This recommendation was made based on expert medical advice.
Monitoring of Health and Safety Executive guidelines is the responsibility of local authority environmental health officers.
The SunSmart campaign, which is funded by UK health departments, is working to see guidelines clearly displayed wherever sunbeds are used.
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At the request of Ministers, the SunSmart campaign is actively disseminating key messages regarding the dangers of sunbeds. The campaign is distributing over one million postcards with a red lobster, creative to 16 to 24-years-olds which include a sunbed warning. The SunSmart website, www.sunsmart.org.uk, also has a dedicated section on the dangers of sunbed use under the 'stay safe' section. This section includes information on who we recommend should never use a sunbed, which includes people who;
are under 16,
have fair or freckly skin,
burn easily,
have a lot of moles,
have had skin cancer in the past,
have a family history of skin cancer,
are using medication that increases your sensitivity to UVR.
The recently convened sunbed summit (29 March 2004) brought together academic experts, representatives of the sunbed association, health professionals and other interested parties to consider how best to protect sunbed users; and to increase their awareness of the potential dangers that might arise from sunbed use.
An outcome of the sunbed summit is that an expert group coordinated by Cancer Research UK will work with the sunbed association in reviewing information they provide in salons, the positioning of such materials, and training materials for their staff.
As part of the sunbed summit, Cancer Research UK and the sunbed association have discussed the possibility of putting SunSmart leaflets into salons.
Representations were also made to the sunbed association to improve their procedures for inspection. The sunbed association is currently considering its position. Local authority officers who have powers of inspection are responsible for enforcing the legislation, which requires tanning outlets to supply accurate information to their customers.
Training Nurses (Barking, Havering and Redbridge)
Mr. Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many training nurses are working in the Barking, Havering and Redbridge NHS trust. [182816]
Mr. Hutton: Nurse training is carried out in higher education institutions, with clinical placements in national health service trusts. Information is not collected centrally by Department on the number of clinical placements.
Waiting Lists/Times
Colin Burgon:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many patients within the (a) East Leeds, (b) North East Leeds and (c) South Leeds Primary Care Trust have been waiting for nine months or more for an
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operation; and how many were waiting for nine months or more for an operation (i) one year ago and (ii) two years ago in each case. [183070]
Miss Melanie Johnson [holding answer 12 July 2004]: The information is shown in the table.
| East Leeds PCT | Leeds North East PCT | South Leeds PCT | |
|---|---|---|---|
| March 2004 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| March 2003 | 249 | 178 | 203 |
| June 2002(30) | 223 | 154 | 240 |
(30) earliest figure available.
Source:
Department of Health.
Mr. Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on NHS waiting times for MRI scans in Coventry South. [183078]
Dr. Ladyman: Data on waiting times for diagnostic tests including magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) are not collected centrally. However data may be collected locally by some strategic health authorities.
As recently announced by the Secretary of State, work is underway to eradicate waits for MRI scans through the national procurement of a mobile MRI service. This will deliver an approximate 10 per cent. increase in the capacity already available to the national health service. In practical terms, approximately 120,000 extra MRI scans will now be available to patients.
Wakefield West Primary Care Trust
Mr. Bill O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assistance he will offer to the Wakefield West Primary Care Trust to help with the recruitment of general practitioners in Normanton constituency; and if he will make a statement. [183031]
Miss Melanie Johnson [holding answer 12 July 2004]: The West Yorkshire workforce development confederation and West Yorkshire primary care organisations developed the West Yorkshire primary care recruitment, retention and return forum in August 2003, chaired by an assistant director of Wakefield West Primary Care Trust (PCT).
The strategy aims to ensure that the PCTs in West Yorkshire are able to recruit and retain a workforce which has the ability to meet the needs of patients within a primary care setting and so meet national service and workforce targets relevant to primary care.
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