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22 May 2006 : Column 1558W—continued
Departmental Staff
David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people in her Department have been (a) disciplined and (b) dismissed for (i) inappropriate use of the internet while at work and (ii) using work telephones to access premium rate numbers in each of the last five years. [67983]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: The information is shown in the table.
| Type of misuse | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | Total |
| Source: Department of Health IT Security Unit |
All office phones are blocked from accessing premium rate numbers. There is management discretion to lift this ban in individual cases based on need. There have been no recorded cases of disciplinary action relating to access to premium line numbers in the last five years.
David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people in her Department have been enabled to work from home in each of the last three years; and if she will make a statement. [67984]
Ms Rosie Winterton: The Department has a formal home-working scheme under which employees may request that home is the place of work for all or some of the working week. The current number of the Department's official home workers over the last three years is shown in the table.
| Official home worker | |
The Department also provides a wide variety of arrangements which allow staff to work flexibly. These include initiatives such as a flexitime, part-time working, job sharing, part year appointments, compressed hours and special leave arrangements to cope with a variety of circumstances.
The Department also allows staff to work at home on an occasional basis at management discretion. This is becoming more widespread with the greater use of information technology.
Diagnostic Scans
Mr. Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many diagnostic scans were carried out by Alliance Medical Ltd. in the NHS in County Durham (a) in each of the last 12 months and (b) in each of the previous five years. [70810]
Andy Burnham [holding answer 15 May 2006]: Alliance Medical Limited (AML) has not provided any diagnostic scans from within County Durham. An AML mobile unit does operate a service from the James Cook University Hospital in Middlesbrough. The unit has visited the hospital on eight occasions since contract commencement in July 2004. The total number of scans are shown in the table. The number referred from specific local areas is not held centrally.
| Month/year | Number of scans |
| Source: Department of Health |
Doctors
Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many doctors employed by the NHS are from non-EU countries. [65678]
Ms Rosie Winterton: The number of doctors employed in the national health service who qualified in non-European Union countries is shown in the following table.
Electromagnetic Fields
Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what estimate she has made of the number of children who are exposed to potentially unsafe levels of overhead electricity cables; [69950]
(2) when she will publish the findings of the stakeholder advisory group on the links between electromagnetic fields and child health. [69951]
Caroline Flint: In 2004, the National Radiological Protection Board (now the Health Protection Agency radiation protection division (HPA-RPD)) recommended the adoption of international electromagnetic field (EMF) exposure guidelines. The supporting review of scientific evidence stated that there is no scientific consensus that exposures to EMFs at levels below currently accepted exposure restrictions cause cancer or any other disease. However, it is their view that
“the totality of scientific data and uncertainty in knowledge and/or other relevant factors indicate that consideration should be given as to whether further precautionary measures are needed”
in respect of extremely low frequency (ELF) EMF.
A subsequent study by the HPA has investigated sources of residential magnetic field exposures (www.hpa.org.uk/radiation/publications/hpa_rpd _reports/2005/hpa_rpd_005.htm). Another study, published in June 2005 by Dr. Draper and colleagues, has estimated the number of children living within certain distance of overhead power lines in England and Wales (bmj.bmjjournals.com/cgi/reprint). Responding to the Draper study, the HPA noted that the majority of raised ELF magnetic fields in homes are due to variations in the electricity supply and distribution system, the presence of substations and equipment in the home rather than proximity to power lines. The HPA response statement is available on its website at: www.hpa.org.uk/hpa/news/articles/press_releases/2005/050603_ childhood_cancer_voltage.htm.
In response to the HPA advice in 2004, the stakeholder advisory group on ELF EMF (SAGE) was set up to explore the implications for a precautionary approach and make practical recommendations for precautionary measures. SAGE is currently developing its advice and is expected to report later this year. Details of this process can be found on its website at www.rkpartnership.co.uk/sage.
Mr. Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will place in the Library copies of the (a) minutes and (b) reports on overhead power lines produced by the stakeholder advisory group on extremely low frequency electromagnetic fields. [70660]
Caroline Flint: The stakeholder advisory group on extremely low frequency electromagnetic fields (SAGE) is currently developing its first report. It is expected that the report will be published and presented to Government later this year. Details of the SAGE process can be found on the website of the independent facilitation company R K Partnership Ltd. at www.rkpartnership.org.uk/sage.
Emergency Contraception
Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) how many girls under the age of 16 years have been prescribed the morning-after pill in each of the last five years; [69354]
(2) how many morning after pills were prescribed to girls under 16 years by pharmacies without medical supervision in 2005-06. [69946]
Caroline Flint: The information available is shown in the following table.
| Occasions on which hormonal post-coital contraceptives dispensed at family planning clinics in England to girls aged under 16, 2000-01 to 2004-05 | |
| Number (Thousand) | |
| Source: The Information Centre for health and social care return KT31 |
Data on how many girls under 16 have been prescribed emergency hormonal contraception by general practice are not held centrally.
Emergency hormonal contraception can be legally supplied to girls under the age of 16 as a prescription-only medicine by general practitioners and also by nurses and pharmacists working under a patient group direction (PGD). A PGD is where a doctor has delegated authority and the supply will therefore always be under medical supervision.
Data on emergency hormonal contraception supplied under a patient group direction (PGD) by pharmacists and nurses are not held centrally.
Evidence-based Information
Mr. Grogan: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans she has to develop evidence-based information for both patients and clinicians. [66048]
Andy Burnham: To support choice at referral, we produced booklets tailored to each primary care trust and enhanced the nhs.uk website to give patients and clinicians information on choice and national health service provider performance taken from Healthcare Commission indicators.
We will be working with clinical leaders and key stakeholders to develop robust measures of clinical quality across all providers of NHS care. We will be building on tools such as the National Joint Registry and the new Heart Surgery in Great Britain websitesat: www.njrcentre.org.uk and http://heartsurgery. healthcarecommission.org.uk/Survival.aspx.
We are also piloting patient reported outcome measures for routine elective care procedures, the results of which will be available this autumn.
In addition, the recent White Paper announced a review of the provision of health and social care information for patients and users. The outcome of the review will enable the Department to provide an information service that better meets the needs of patients and the public.
Foster Review
Mr. Greg Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when she will announce her response to the Foster review of non-medical healthcare professions. [72657]
Andy Burnham: I refer the hon. Member to the reply given on 17 May 2006.
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