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22 Mar 2005 : Column 767W—continued
Telecommunications Masts
Mr. Duncan Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what recent research he has examined concerning the effect of 3G phone masts on people's health. [222704]
Miss Melanie Johnson [holding answer 17 March 2005]: The National Radiological Protection Board provides statutory advice on risks from exposure to radiation and electromagnetic fields. Their recent publication Mobile Phones and Health 2004" (Documents of the NRPB, Vol 15, No 5, 2004) reviewed the possible health implications of mobile phones and base stations including the newer technologies such as third generation (3G). The NRPB reiterated the Stewart Report (2000) concludes that:
the balance of evidence indicates that there is no general risk to the health of people living near to base stations on the basis that exposures are expected to be small fractions of guidelines".
Measurements around 3G base stations undertaken by both NRPB (www.nrpb.org) and by Ofcom (www.ofcom.org.uk) have consistently shown that exposures to the radio signals from base stations are lower than the guidelines published by the International Commission on Non-ionising Radiation Protection.
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Following an unexplained result on 3G base station exposures, undertaken in the Netherlands in 2003, the Mobile Telecommunications and Health Research Programme in this country is now supporting a research study at the University of Essex into the symptoms experienced by 3G signals on volunteers.
Mr. Duncan Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether he has received reports concerning the health effects of mobile phone masts which he has not made public. [222705]
Miss Melanie Johnson: Reports received by the Department on health effects associated with mobile phone technology have usually appeared in scientific journals or on the internet. The Department sometimes receives unpublished accounts, reports or letters, which it passes on to the National Radiological Protection Board (NRPB) for a considered view. The NRPB, or its independent Advisory Group on Non-ionising Radiation (AGNIR), have published reviews of the scientific knowledge based on the totality of work to date.
AGNIR provided a comprehensive review of the science Health Effects from Radiofrequency Electromagnetic Fields", (Documents of the NRPB, Vol 14, No2, 2003). More recently, the NRPB reviewed the progress on implementing the recommendations in the 2000 Stewart Report in Mobile Phones and Health 2004" (Documents of the NRPB, Vol 15, No 5, 2004). These reports are available on the NRPB website (www.nrpb.org)
Mr. Duncan Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the effects on people with heart problems of the radiation emitted from mobile phone masts, with particular reference to those with pacemakers. [222706]
Miss Melanie Johnson [holding answer 17 March 2005]: The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) and its predecessor the Medical Devices Agency (MDA) has monitored research activities undertaken by pacemaker manufacturers to assess potential pacemaker interference from mobile phones, by participating in European and International pacemaker safety standards committees.
For implanted pacemakers the power level and severity of interference signals from phone masts is much less than for mobile phones in proximity to the patients. MHRA issued guidance to clinicians about possible interference effects to pacemakers from mobile telephones in February 1996, via Pacemaker Technical Note PTN 61, which advised a minimum phone to pacemaker separation distance of 15 centimetres.
Toxic Waste
Miss McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the potential health effects on infant children exposed to toxic waste from former steelworks; and if he will make a statement. [221877]
Miss Melanie Johnson:
The Department has not undertaken any such assessment.
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Visual Impairment
Mr. Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate he has made of the proportion of the population which is visually impaired in (a) one eye and (b) both eyes; and what assessment he has made of likely future changes in these proportions. [221810]
Dr. Ladyman: At March 2003, 157,000 people were on the register of blind people in England and 155,000 people were on the register of partially sighted people.
Registration of blindness is voluntary so the register does not necessarily include all people who are blind.
No further information is held by the Department.
22 Mar 2005 : Column 770W
West Suffolk Hospital
Mr. Spring: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the staff complement at the West Suffolk hospital was in each of the last nine years; and what percentage of that total was made up of (a) doctors, (b) nurses, (c) ancillary staff and (d) administrative, managerial and clerical staff in each year. [222864]
Dr. Ladyman: The staff complement at the West Suffolk hospital national health service trust for each year for the last nine years, and the percentage of the total as made up of doctors, nurses, ancillary staff and administrative, managerial and clerical staff for each year is shown in the following table.
Source:
Department of Health non-medical workforce census.
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Mr. Spring: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many (a) acute and (b) non-acute beds there were in West Suffolk Hospital in each of the last nine years. [222865]
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Dr. Ladyman: The number of acute and non-acute beds at West Suffolk Hospital in each of the last nine years are shown in the table.
Note:
n/a—not available.
Source:
Department of Health form KH03.
Mr. Spring: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the outturn against planned expenditure of the West Suffolk Hospitals NHS Trust was in each of the last nine years. [222866]
Dr. Ladyman: The Department has taken outturn against planned expenditure to mean the retained surplus/(deficit) position for the financial year, as reported in the final accounts of national health service trusts.
The table shows the retained surplus/(deficit) figures reported by the West Suffolk Hospitals NHS Trust from 1996–97 to 2003–04, which is the latest year for which figures are available. Data relating to the accounts of individual NHS bodies are not held prior to 1996–97.
| Retained surplus/(deficit) (£000) | |
|---|---|
| 1996–97 | 432 |
| 1997–98 | (32) |
| 1998–99 | 28 |
| 1999–2000 | (286) |
| 2000–01 | 290 |
| 2001–02 | (936) |
| 2002–03 | 947 |
| 2003–04 | (2,501) |
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