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5 Apr 2005 : Column 1445W—continued
Ministerial Duties
Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what official duties were carried out by the Minister of State, the hon. Member for Doncaster Central (Ms Winterton) on Thursday 17 March; how many officials accompanied her; for what purposes; and what the total cost of travel was. [223535]
Ms Rosie Winterton
[holding answer 23 March 2005]: On Thursday 17 March, I attended Mind's annual conference in Harrogate, opened York hospitals national health service trust's renal satellite unit at Harrogate general hospital, visited Kippax North junior
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and infant school in Kippax to see the impact of the Government's healthy schools programme and visited Undercliffe surgery in Batley. All the duties were carried out in an official capacity.
As is usual on official visits, I was accompanied to all the engagements by an official from my ministerial private office and by one of the Department's press officers. A senior official from the Department's mental health team attended Mind's conference.
The total cost of travel, including for those officials accompanying me, was £898.40.
Mrs. A. Murphy
Mr. O'Hara: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what representations he has received about Mrs. A. Murphy of Huyton, a constituent of the hon. Member for Knowsley South. [224060]
Miss Melanie Johnson: The Department has not received any representations about Mrs. A. Murphy of Huyton.
MRSA
Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many cases of MRSA have been identified in hospitals within Greater London, broken down by national health service trust, in each year since March 2003. [221946]
Miss Melanie Johnson: Information on reported methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) bloodstream infections for each national health service trust in London is shown in the tables. Full year figures for April 2004 to March 2005 are not yet available. However, there was a 20 per cent., reduction across London in the first six months of 2004–05—April to September 2004—compared with the same period in 2003.
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Mr. Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether the Health Protection Agency's survey of data collection methods for the mandatory MRSA surveillance scheme is complete; and what assessment has been made of the consistency in data collection methods across NHS trusts. [222778]
Miss Melanie Johnson: The user study by the HealthProtection Agency of the methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) bacteraemia mandatory surveillance scheme is expected to be received by the Department shortly.
Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) how many cases of MRSA have been reported involving kidney patients receiving treatment through intravenous tubes in each of the last three years; [223536]
(2) what measures have been taken to prevent MRSA infections being contracted during dialysis treatment. [223537]
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Miss Melanie Johnson [holding answer 23 March 2005]: Figures on the incidence of methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) in kidney patients dialysed using central venous catheters are not available.
All national health service trusts need to take steps to control MRSA and other healthcare associated infections and general guidance on infection control is set out in Winning Ways: Working together to reduce healthcare associated infection in England".
Specific advice on infection control in dialysis units has been issued by the Renal Association in Treatment of adults and children with renal failure—standards and audit measures".
Mr. Boswell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what information he has collated on the incidence of community-acquired MRSA; and what action he is taking to prevent its spread. [223904]
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Miss Melanie Johnson: Community-acquired methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (CA-MRSA) usually refers to cases of MRSA isolated from previously healthy people without any obvious risk factors such as admission to hospital. The Health Protection Agency's (HPA) staphylococcal reference laboratory has confirmed 100 cases over the last three years—an extremely small proportion of the isolates they receive (less than 0.005 per cent.). The Specialist Advisory Committee on Antimicrobial Resistance (SACAR) and the HPA are monitoring reports of CA-MRSA and recommend continued vigilance, but that there is no immediate cause for concern. They will be carrying out a small survey to establish the prevalence of these infections.
CA-MRSA is controlled by good hygiene and infection control and guidance for the national health service is available in Infection Control: Prevention of healthcare associated infection in primary and community care" published by the National Institute for Clinical Excellence in 2003.
Charles Hendry: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on the reasons for changing the name of the antibiotic 'methicillin' to 'meticillin'; and whether the collation of statistics on deaths from MRSA includes cases where MRSA is described as 'meticillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus'. [224139]
Miss Melanie Johnson [holding answer 4 April 2005]: The name of the antibiotic known as methicillin has been changed to meticillin. This is in accordance with the International Pharmacopoeia guidelines. The change in nomenclature does not affect statistics on deaths from meticillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) as data collected by the Office for National Statistics includes references to both meticillin and methicillin.
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