---

6 Dec 2005 : Column 1216W—continued

Video Conferencing Units

Danny Alexander: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many video conferencing units are installed in (a) the Department and (b) each agency of the Department; what percentage of offices have these facilities in each case; and what plans he has to increase the number. [14254]

Mrs. McGuire: The information is as follows:

(a) There are currently 236 video conferencing units (VC) installed across the Department, of which 214 are portable units and 22 are fixed.

(b) A breakdown by building and agency is in the table.

Business/Agency	Number of buildings	Number of VCs installed	Number of buildings with VC unit	Percentage of buildings with facilities
Corporate and Shared Services	57	74	30	53
Job Centre Plus(22)	1,564	70	52	3
The Pensions Service	69	63	31	45
The Appeals Service	33	15	12	36
Child Support Agency	146	13	10	7
Debt Management	17	1	1	6
Total	1,886	236	136	7

⁽²²⁾ VC figures for Disability and Carers Service are now included in the totals for Job Centre Plus, since the VC units concerned are administered together.

Some buildings are occupied by more than one business unit so may have been counted more than once. All of our business units are free to utilise the VC facilities across all sites. Some offices have more than one unit installed.

There are no current plans to increase the number of video conferencing units further across the Department.

HEALTH

Ashford and St. Peter's NHS Trust

Mr. Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) if she will assess the impact of the delay in the implementation of payment by results on the financial position of Ashford and St. Peters' NHS Trust; [28613]

(2) if she will assess the cumulative impact of the delay in implementation of payment by results for non-foundation hospitals on the aggregate financial position of NHS trusts within the Surrey and Sussex strategic health authority area. [28614]

Mr. Byrne: The information requested is not held centrally.

Blood Stocks

Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will make a statement on the level of blood stocks available to NHS hospitals in (a) Southend Primary Care Trust area and (b) England. [20706]

Caroline Flint: The NHS Blood and Transplant Authority (NHSBT) ¹ is responsible for managing blood supplies in England and North Wales.

Blood stocks are currently good and NHSBT have been meeting demand for blood from hospitals. All NHSBT stock is available to any hospital in England and North Wales. Blood stocks are continually reviewed and redistributed as necessary across the country to ensure that all orders for blood are met.

The table shows red cell stocks as at 30 November 2005.

¹ From 1 October, the National Blood Service and UK Transplant were merged to form the new organisation NHSBT.

Total red blood cell stocks

	Red cell stocks
Number of validated units	38,875
Equivalent number of days supply	6.10

In addition to NHSBT stocks, each hospital blood bank will keep an appropriate
 
6 Dec 2005 : Column 1217W
 

Carbon Monoxide Poisoning

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Healthwhat training is provided to ambulance personnel on identifying injury caused by carbon monoxide poisoning. [28957]

Mr. Byrne: Ambulance emergency medical technician and paramedic qualifying training includes recognition and treatment of poisoning, including reference to carbon monoxide. It is also covered by the clinical practice guidelines for use in United Kingdom ambulance services, produced by the Joint Royal Colleges Ambulance Liaison Committee.

Care Homes

Andrew Mackinlay: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will bring forward legislation to provide security of tenure in (a) local authority and (b) other publicly funded care homes; and if she will make a statement. [29719]

Mr. Byrne: It is important for people who need and want residential care to be accommodated in appropriate settings. Homes may close for different reasons, including deregistration of poor quality homes. It is also only appropriate for a person to remain in a care home for as long as it meets their needs. It would not therefore be practicable or appropriate to give care home residents security of tenure.

We are concerned to ensure that residents' rights and welfare are protected when home closures take place or residents need to move to a new home, by ensuring care home contracts are fair and local authorities have procedures in place to ensure care home closures are handled with the minimum of disturbance.
 
6 Dec 2005 : Column 1218W
 

Cheshire and Mersey Strategic Health Authority

Rosie Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what opportunities will be afforded to hon. Members to influence the reconfiguration plans of Cheshire and Mersey strategic health authority. [32914]

Mr. Byrne: The Cheshire and Merseyside strategic health authority (SHA) reports that all hon. Members in the area have been sent details of the work being undertaken to enable all NHS trusts in its area to achieve foundation trust status. This includes the aims and objectives of the work it is taking forward. Arrangements are also in place for the SHA chief executive to meet with hon. members so that they have the opportunity to raise issues and discuss progress with her directly.

Chief Medical Officer

Dr. Gibson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what overseas visits the Chief Medical Officer has made in the last two years; where his interests are recorded; what meetings he has had with the Prime Minister in the last two years; and which of the chief scientific advisers to Government Departments he has met in the last 12 months. [24390]

Jane Kennedy: Details of overseas visits made by the Chief Medical Officer (CMO) for England, Sir Liam Donaldson, during the period 1 November 2003 until 31 October 2005 are shown in table 1.

His meetings with the Prime Minister in the same period and his meetings with the chief scientific advisers to Government Departments during the period 1 November 2004 until 31 October 2005 are set out in table 2. In the day-to-day progress of his work the CMO meets or hears the views of a wide range of scientists who advise Government Departments on policy and risk. These extensive contacts have not been itemised.

His interests are recorded on the Department of Health's Register of Interests, held by the Department's Senior Civil Service Unit.
Table 1

Date	Destination	Event	CMO's role
2003
20–21 November	Rome	European Union (EU) CMC's meeting	UK Representative
2004
19–23 January	Geneva	World Health Organization (WHO) Executive Board Meeting	Head of UK delegation
24 February (½ day)	Madrid	Spanish Ministry of Health: Launch of Agency for Quality	Keynote Speaker
11–12 March	Dublin	EU CMO's meeting	UK Representative
25–26 March	Dublin	Medical Director Representatives Meeting	Keynote Speaker
2–6 April	Washington, DC	Meeting of Academic Medical Centers	UK Representative
30 April	Geneva	UK bilateral accountability meeting with the World Health Organization	Head of UK delegation
11 May	Reykjavik	Sixth Futures Forum, European Meeting	Keynote Speaker
15–21 May	Geneva	World Health Assembly	Head of UK delegation
29 May to 2 June	New York	International Meeting on Obesity	Keynote Speaker
10 June	Rotterdam	200 years of Health Law Conference	Keynote Speaker
		Fact-finding visit to Erasmus Hospital, Rotterdam, addressing MRSA issues
23–24 June	Dublin	Royal College of Surgeons Meeting	Keynote Speaker
		WHO Expert Meeting on Patient Safety	Chair
14–19 July	New York	Commonwealth Fund Meeting	Head of UK delegation
25–26 July	Poland	Council of Europe and Polish Society for Quality Conference	Keynote Speaker
6–7 September	Copenhagen	WHO European (EURO) Regional Committee Meeting	Head of UK delegation and Meeting Chair
14–19 September	Shanghai	WHO Western Pacific (WPRO) Regional Committee Meeting	Head of UK delegation
		First Meeting of the World Alliance for Patient Safety (jointly organised by the Chinese Ministry and WPRO)	Chair
22 October	Amsterdam	International Society for Quality in Health Care (ISQua) Meeting	Keynote Speaker
26–29 October	Washington, DC	Commonwealth Fund Meeting	Accompanying the UK Minister
		Launch of the World Alliance for Patient Safety	Chair
16–18 November	The Hague	EU CMO's Meeting	UK Representative
24–28 November	Kuwait	WHO Eastern Mediterranean Region Patient Safety Conference	Keynote Speaker
2005
16–20 January	Africa	WHO-organized visit to Kenya and South Africa	Head of delegation
23–25 January	Geneva	WHO Executive Board Meeting	Head of UK delegation
16–18 March	Luxembourg	EU CMO's Meeting	UK Representative
5 April	Luxembourg	EU Presidency Conference on Patient Safety	Keynote Speaker
6 April	Brussels	EU Health Subgroup Meeting	Chair
8 April	Paris	World Health Congress	Keynote Speaker
14 April	Warsaw	Council of Europe Meeting	Keynote Speaker
29 April	Geneva	WHO Expert Meeting on Infection Control and Hand Hygiene	Keynote Speaker
15–19 May	Geneva	World Health Assembly	Head of UK delegation
9–10 June	San Diego, CA	Institute for Healthcare Improvement Conference on Patient Safety	Keynote Speaker
22–25 August	East Coast, USA	Series of fact-finding hospital visits
		Launch of the WHO Collaborating Center on Safety Solutions	Chair
		Harvard Quality Colloquium	Keynote Speaker
12–13 September	Romania	WHO European Regional Committee Meeting	Head of UK delegation
l6 September	Stockholm	National Conference on Patient Safety	Keynote Speaker
26 September	Geneva	International Meeting on Drug Monitoring Centres	Keynote Speaker
6–7 October	Austria	EU, Gastein Summit	Head of Delegation
13 October	Geneva	Launch of Global Patient Safety Challenge	Keynote Speaker
29 October to 5 November	USA	Yale Conference on Chronic Diseases	Keynote Speaker Fact-finding visit
		Yale School of Public Health	Chair and Keynote Speaker
		Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality/ WHO Research Summit	Head of UK delegation
		Commonwealth Fund 2005 International Symposium	Meeting with President
		American Hospital Association Institute of Medicine	Meeting with President

 
6 Dec 2005 : Column 1219W
 

The Chief Medical Officer had contact with the Prime Minister in the period 1 November 2003 until 31 October 2005 as follows:

Date	Type of contact	Topic
15 October 2005	Telephone call	Pandemic flu
20 October 2005	Meeting	Pandemic flu

The Chief Medical Officer had contact with the Chief Scientific Advisers in the period 1 November 2004 until 31 October 2005 as follows:

David Harper—Chief Scientist, Department of Health

Sir David King—Chief Scientific Adviser, Department of Trade & Industry

Debby Reynolds—Chief Veterinary Officer, Department for Environment Food & Rural Affairs

Date of Meeting	Chief Scientific Adviser
4 October 2004	David Harper
4 October 2004	David Harper
7 October 2004	David Harper
11 October 2004	David Harper
13 October 2004	David Harper
13 October 2004	David Harper
18 October 2004	David Harper
18 October 2004	David Harper
19 October 2004	David Harper
1 November 2004	David Harper
3 November 2004	David Harper
3 November 2004	David Harper
3 November 2004	David Harper
8 November 2004	David Harper
9 November 2004	David Harper
10 November 2004	David Harper
15 November 2004	David Harper
19 November 2004	David Harper
19 November 2004	David Harper
22 November 2004	David Harper
22 November 2004	David Harper
6 December 2004	David Harper
6 December 2004	David Harper
13 December 2004	David Harper
13 December 2004	David Harper
14 December 2004	David Harper
15 December 2004	Sir David King
15 December 2004	David Harper
5 January 2005	David Harper
10 January 2005	David Harper
10 January 2005	David Harper
12 January 2005	David Harper
19 January 2005	David Harper
21 January 2005	David Harper
31 January 2005	David Harper
31 January 2005	David Harper
2 February 2005	David Harper
2 February 2005	David Harper
7 February 2005	David Harper
14 February 2005	David Harper
15 February 2005	Debby Reynolds
22 February 2005	Sir David King
22 February 2005	David Harper
23 February 2005	David Harper
1 March 2005	David Harper
3 March 2005	David Harper
10 March 2005	David Harper
14 March 2005	David Harper
14 March 2005	Sir David King
4 April 2005	David Harper
19 April 2005	David Harper
20 April 2005	David Harper
20 April 2005	David Harper
25 April 2005	David Harper
26 April 2005	David Harper
3 May 2005	David Harper
4 May 2005	David Harper
9 May 2005	David Harper
1 June 2005	David Harper
1 June 2005	David Harper
20 June 2005	David Harper
21 June 2005	David Harper
27 June 2005	David Harper
30 June 2005	David Harper
30 June 2005	David Harper
4 July 2005	David Harper
6 July 2005	David Harper
8 July 2005	David Harper
13 July 2005	Sir David King
13 July 2005	David Harper
13 July 2005	David Harper
14 July 2005	Sir David King
18 July 2005	David Harper
18 July 2005	David Harper
19 July 2005	David Harper
26 July 2005	Sir David King
27 July 2005	Sir David King
29 July 2005	David Harper
30 August2005	David Harper
5 September 2005	David Harper
6 September 2005	Sir David King
23 September 2005	David Harper
30 September 2005	David Harper
10 October 2005	David Harper
10 October 2005	David Harper
14 October 2005	Debby Reynolds
14 October 2005	David Harper
17 October 2005	David Harper
18 October 2005	David Harper
20 October 2005	Sir David King
20 October 2005	Sir David King
21 October 2005	David Harper
21 October 2005	David Harper
24 October 2005	David Harper
28 October 2005	David Harper
28 October 2005	Debby Reynolds
Other
24 February 2005	Dinner for Chief Scientific Advisers for all Government Departments

 
6 Dec 2005 : Column 1222W
 

---