| Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
23 Nov 2005 : Column 2097W—continued
Staff Discipline
David T.C. Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many employees have been dismissed by her Department in each of the last five years for which figures are available. [29126]
Maria Eagle:
The number of Department for Education and Skills employees dismissed in each of the last five calendar years is as follows:
23 Nov 2005 : Column 2098W
| Number | |
|---|---|
| 2000 | 8 |
| 2001 | 3 |
| 2002 | 5 |
| 2003 | 1 |
| 2004 | 3 |
University Staff
Dr. Tony Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what the average weekly number of hours was spent by full-time academic staff teaching undergraduates in universities in 2004–05. [29028]
Bill Rammell: The information is not held centrally. The Higher Education Statistics Agency collects data annually on staff in all higher education institutions in the UK, but does not collect any data on class contact time.
HEALTH
Abortion Act
Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what advice her Department issues to members of the public wishing to report alleged abuses of the terms of the Abortion Act 1967; and if she will make a statement; [28200]
(2) how many allegations of abuse of the terms of the Abortion Act 1967 were made to her Department by (a) members of the public and (b) doctors in each of the last 20 years for which figures are available; and how many were dismissed for lack of evidence. [28201]
Caroline Flint: The Department has not issued any specific advice to members of the public about reporting alleged abuses of the Abortion Act. However, any member of the public has the right to raise any concern about abortion or any other medical procedure.
All allegations received about abortion are investigated and appropriate action taken. Information about the allegations received over the last 20 years can be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Accident and Emergency Provision
Mr. Walker: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps she will take to ensure the future provision of accident and emergency services to the residents of South East Hertfordshire; and if she will make a statement. [26192]
Ms Rosie Winterton: Decisions about the priorities and types of services that are available to South East Hertfordshire are made by the primary care trust based on the needs of the population it serves. This includes the siting of services.
Alcohol Services
Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will place in the Library a copy of the results of the national audit of available alcohol services. [30743]
23 Nov 2005 : Column 2099W
Caroline Flint: A copy of the Alcohol Needs Assessment Research Project is available in the Library.
Alcohol-related Illnesses
Mr. Wallace: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people under the age of 30 years in the area corresponding most closely to Lancaster and Wyre constituency were treated for alcohol-related illnesses (a) in the last 12 months and (b) in each year since 1997. [20514]
Mr. Byrne: Information is not held centrally on a constituency basis. The most current information available is shown in the following table.
Count of finished consultant episodes for selected alcohol related diseases in Lancaster and Wyre national health service hospitals, 1997–98 to 2003–04
Notes:
1. Finished consultant episode (FCE):
A 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.
2. Diagnosis (primary diagnosis):
The primary diagnosis is the first of up to 14, seven 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.
Alcohol related diseases defined as following ICD-10 codes recorded in primary diagnosis:
F10: Mental and behavioural disorders due to use of alcohol
K70: Alcoholic liver disease
T51: Toxic effect of alcohol
3. Ungrossed Data:
Figures have not been adjusted for shortfalls in data (i.e. the data are ungrossed).
Source:
Hospital Episode Statistics (HES), Health and Social Care Information Centre"
Rosie Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people under the age of 30 years in the area corresponding most closely to West Lancashire constituency were treated for alcohol-related illnesses (a) in the last 12 months and (b) in each year since 1997. [27862]
Mr. Byrne: The information requested is shown in the table.
Notes:
1. 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.
2. Patient counts
Patient counts are based on the unique patient identifier HESID. This identifier is derived based on patient's date of birth, postcode, sex, local patient identifier and NHS number, using an agreed algorithm. Where data are incomplete, HESID might erroneously link episodes or fail to recognise episodes for the same patient. Care is therefore needed, especially where duplicate records persist in the data. The patient count cannot be summed across a table where patients may have episodes in more than one cell.
3. Diagnosis (Primary Diagnosis)
The primary diagnosis is the first of up to 14 (seven 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.
4. Ungrossed data
Figures have not been adjusted for shortfalls in data (ie the data are ungrossed).
Source:
Hospital Episode Statistics (HES), Health and Social Care Information Centre
23 Nov 2005 : Column 2100W
Ambulance Service (Hertfordshire)
Mike Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many patients were conveyed by ambulance to the Accident and Emergency departments of (a) Hemel Hempstead general hospital and (b) Watford general hospital in (i) 2002–03, (ii) 2003–04 and (iii) 2004–05; and if she will make a statement. [26848]
Ms Rosie Winterton: The information requested is not held centrally.
Mike Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many patients in Manchester triage system categories one and two were conveyed by ambulance to the accident and emergency departments of (a) Hemel Hempstead general hospital and (b) Watford general hospital in (i) 2002–03, (ii) 2003–04 and (iii) 2004–05; and if she will make a statement. [26849]
Ms Rosie Winterton: The information requested is not held centrally.
Avian Influenza
Mr. Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans she has to put in place contracts to secure year-round supplies of eggs as described in the UK Influenza Pandemic Contingency Plan. [23210]
Caroline Flint:
It is the responsibility of vaccine manufacturers to make sure that they have contracts in place to ensure that they have a sufficient supply of eggs to fulfil their contracts to supply vaccine. The Department has met with manufacturers to discuss their preparedness for a possible pandemic.
23 Nov 2005 : Column 2101W
Mr. Paterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment she has made of the mechanisms by which mutagenesis towards human host adaptation could arise in relation to H5N1 avian influenza virus, with particular reference to the combination of clades within the host (a) from the same strain and (b) from different strains of the virus. [23987]
Caroline Flint: The mechanism by which one or any H5 avian virus adapts to humans is likely to be the same regardless of the clade, or strain. No data exist on this but we have no reason to believe that the mechanism of mutagenesis would be different for one versus any other strain.
Mr. Paterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what advice has been given (a) directly and (b) via health professionals to those people assessed as being most at risk from simultaneous co-infection of the H5N1 and a human host adapted influenza virus. [24017]
Caroline Flint: H5N1 is currently an avian influenza virus which mainly affects birds. We are working to ensure that both health professionals and the public have access to information about both avian and pandemic flu. The Chief Medical Officer has produced an explanatory guide which explains the difference between avian flu, seasonal flu and pandemic flu. A public information leaflet, Frequently Asked Questions and Key Facts sheets have also been developed. These are available on the Department's website and have been distributed to primary care professionals, to enable them to answer questions from members of the public.
The Department of Environment Food and Rural Affairs' (DEFRA) generic exotic animal disease contingency plan includes provisions on health and safety for poultry workers and other stakeholders in the event of an outbreak of avian influenza. This was supplemented by additional advice published on 31 October. Both documents are available on DEFRA's website at: www.defra.gov.uk.
Mr. Paterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment she has made of the potential for virulence in avian influenza H5N1 to be replicated in a human host adapted strain following mutagenesis. [24023]
Caroline Flint: The virus causing human clinical H5N1 infection is highly virulent in birds but it remains an avian virus. There are little data available to indicate whether it will retain that virulence if it mutates into a human virus.
Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will make a statement on the safety of chicken and turkey products in the context of avian influenza. [27106]
Caroline Flint: On the basis of current scientific evidence, the Food Standards Agency (FSA) advises that avian influenza does not pose a food safety risk for United Kingdom consumers. This is because for people, the risk of catching the disease is from being in close contact with live poultry that have the disease and not through eating cooked poultry.
The FSA advises that poultry should always be cooked thoroughly before being eaten to avoid food poisoning due to salmonella and campylobacter.
23 Nov 2005 : Column 2102W
| Next Section | Index | Home Page |