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GP Contract

Mrs. Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what assessment he has made of the effects on morale of general practitioners in the Province of the implementation of the new General Medical Services contract. [198147]

Angela Smith: No assessment has been made of the effects on morale of general practitioners in Northern Ireland following the implementation of the new General Medical Services contract. It is, of course, part of the aims of the new contract to boost the morale of the profession and to make general practice a more attractive career option for qualifying doctors by, for example, offering GPs improved remuneration prospects, a better work/life balance through the ability to opt out of providing out-of-hours care, and, through the Quality and Outcomes Framework, financial rewards for meeting clinical and other specified quality standards. Implementation of the new contract is being supported in Northern Ireland by the investment of new monies in excess of £44 million over 3 years. The contract has, however, only been in operation a matter of months and it may take a longer period before the benefits it offers GPs are fully realised.

Green Ministers

Mr. Horam: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many departmental Green Ministers there have been since 1997. [197836]

Angela Smith: Since May 1997, there have been two Northern Ireland Office 'Green' Ministers.
 
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Inquiry (Child Deaths)

Mr. John Hume: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will ensure that the families of the children whose deaths are the subject of Mr. John O'Hara QC's independent inquiry have access to independent legal representation; and what the (a) terms of reference and (b) scope of the inquiry are. [198497]

Angela Smith: I refer the hon. Gentleman to the answer I have given today to the hon. Member for Strangford (Mrs. Robinson).

Lucy Crawford

Mrs. Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland (1) whether medical expertise for the inquiry into the death in April 2000 of Lucy Crawford will be sought from (a) outside Northern Ireland and (b) from doctors within the Province; [197850]

(2) whether the proceedings of the inquiry into the death in April 2000 of Lucy Crawford will be conducted in public; [198014]

(3) whether the inquiry into the death in April 2000 of Lucy Crawford will have the power to compel witnesses, with particular reference to doctors, to provide evidence; when he expects the inquiry will commence; and whether the actions of the (a) Sperrin Lakeland Trust and (b) Department of Health Social Services and Personal Safety in response to the death of Lucy Crawford will be investigated by the inquiry. [197848]

Angela Smith: Officials are currently finalising the detailed arrangements for the conduct of the inquiry with Mr. John O'Hara QC and I hope to make an announcement shortly. These arrangements will take account of Cabinet Office guidance on inquiries and a copy of the Terms of Reference will be placed in the House Library.
 
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Mediboxes

Mrs. Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland pursuant to the answer of 2 November 2004, Official Report, column 239W, on GP prescribing, whether Mediboxes have been available in Northern Ireland through the NHS. [198146]

Angela Smith: Mediboxes have never been available on health service prescription.

MRSA

Mrs. Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of new drugs to combat MRSA. [197849]

Angela Smith: There are no new drugs licensed to combat MRSA. Licenses for use indicate a drug's range and spectrum not specific diseases or ailments. Clinicians assisted by Trust guidelines and aided by local laboratory appraisals of efficacy make assessments as to the effectiveness of particular licensed drugs.

Museums

Mr. Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will list the publicly funded museums in Northern Ireland; how many visitors there were to each in the last year for which figures are available; and what the net cost of each facility was in 2003–04. [191629]

Angela Smith: Publicly funded Museums in Northern Ireland may receive funding from Northern Ireland Government Departments, District Councils, NIO, and the Ministry of Defence and, in some cases, a combination of sources. The following table lists museums in Northern Ireland which received public funding towards their operating costs in 2003–04, the most recent annual visitor numbers available, and the net cost of each in 2003–04.

Museum	Net Cost (total operating costs less self generated income) 2003–04 (£000)	Visitor Numbers 2003–04	Calendar (c) or Financial (f) Year	Comments
Andrew Jackson and US Rangers Centre	35.3	971	7 months	Open April to October.
Bally castle Museum	16.9	2,400	2 months	Open July to August.
Ballymena Museum	120.8	11,793	f
Ballymoney Museum	45	2, 982	c
Barn Museum	2	7,419	c
Down County Museum	753	44,653	c
Downpatrick Railway Museum	12.2	5,512	Open 4 months in year	Open June to September. The net annual cost shown relates to 2002–03 as the figures for 2003–04 are not available.
Fermanagh County Museum	260.9	19,246	f
Flame—The Gasworks Museum of Ireland	15.4	756	Open 7 months in year	Closed November to March.
Foyle Valley Railway Museum	68.8	0	Closed to public
Garvagh Museum Ltd	1	972	f
Gray Printers Museum	55.3	3,484	c
Green Lane Museum	6.9	7,500	Open 32 days	Open weekends in May, June and September and 7 days in July and August
Harbour Museum	272.4	11,000	c
Heritage Building	149.2	205	c
Irish Linen Centre and Lisburn Museum	608.2	44,630	c	The costs and visitor numbers provided by Lisburn BC relate to the overall footfall to the facility including shop and cafe with total visitor numbers of 302,536 in 2003–04 of which 44,630 visited the Museum.
Larne Museum	67	0	Closed to public	Closed for refurbishment
Newry and Mourne Museum	75	10,000	c
North Down Heritage Centre	303	50,725	c
MAGNI (incorporating the Ulster Museum, the Ulster Folk and Transport Museum, the Ulster American Folk Park and Armagh County Museum)	11,686	523,951	f
Pogues Entry [Childhood home - Alexander Irvine]	n/a	700	Open 4 months in year	Open June to September. The total operating costs for Pogues Entry only available from the Museum itself which is currently closed for the off-season.
Ministry of Defence	249			Regimental Museums funded by Ministry of Defence. Due to the set up of their budget it is not possible to split down the cots for the individual museums.
Royal Iniskilling Fusiliers		19,094	c
Royal Irish Fusiliers Museum		4,521	c
Royal Irish Regimental Museum		15,000
Royal Ulster Rifles Museum		12,000	c
Somme Heritage Centre	30.3	19,474	f
Tower Museum	318.1	21,851	c

Notes:
The museums listed are those museums that have received public funding towards their operating costs in the financial year 2003–04.
Where it has proved impossible to obtain the relevant information to date this has been shown on the table as n/a (not available).





 
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Neurosurgery

Mrs. Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what intensive rehabilitation facilities are available in the Province for patients following neurosurgery. [198098]

Angela Smith: Various levels of rehabilitation are provided for patients following neurosurgery, depending on their individual needs. These include initial in-patient rehabilitation until medically fit for discharge; specialist in-patient rehabilitation facilities; hospital out-patient services, and specialist community teams, which have links with voluntary sector organisations providing vocational rehabilitation.

A regional acquired brain injury rehabilitation unit, with 25 beds, is due to open at Musgrave Park Hospital in 2006.

Mrs. Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will make a statement on neurosurgery provision for children in the Province. [198152]

Angela Smith: All paediatric neurosurgery is carried out at the Royal Group of Hospitals. There are two neurosurgeons with an interest in paediatric surgery and the hospital runs four clinics per month. The current waiting time for an outpatient appointment is four weeks. Children requiring inpatient treatment are generally treated as urgent cases and therefore experience little or no waiting time.

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