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5 Jun 2006 : Column 428W—continued
Hepatitis A
Mrs. Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what information is available in the Province to ensure people who do not have access to the internet are able to access hard copy material warning them about contracting hepatitis A due to poor water quality. [74228]
Paul Goggins: The Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety (DHSSPS) and the Department of the Environment do not have written material available for the public about contracting hepatitis A through water in Northern Ireland. The United Kingdom water industry, including Northern Ireland, has drinking water processes and procedures in place, which ensure that health risks from contamination are extremely low.
The booklet, “Health Advice for Travellers”, published jointly by the Department of Health and DHSSPS, is available from post offices. Under the heading hepatitis A, advice on infection risk in relation to water and food and on hand washing is provided for travellers going to countries where sanitation is basic. Country-by-country risks and recommendations for travellers on hepatitis A are also contained in the jointly published book, “Health Information for Overseas Travel”, which is aimed at health professionals and available from the Stationery Office.
Holy Cross College, Strabane
Mark Durkan: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what steps are being taken to ensure that there is no further delay in the construction of Holy Cross college in Strabane. [72924]
Maria Eagle:
Having fully considered the representations made to exempt Holy Cross college
from the policy changes in respect of cleaning services in PPP projects, I have concluded that this project must be in line with all other PPP school projects and apply the policy on cleaning services.
A letter has now issued to the trustees and the Council for Catholic Maintained Schools advising them of this decision. My officials will shortly be in contact with the project manager to convene a meeting of relevant stakeholders to agree an action plan that will ensure any delays and costs are kept to a minimum.
Hospital Security
Mrs. Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what plans he has to increase resources allocated for hospital security at (a) Ulster hospital and (b) other Northern Ireland hospitals. [74725]
Paul Goggins: The resources made available to the health and personal social services (HPSS) do not specify an amount for hospital security. However, it is within the remit of each trust to allocate appropriate resources for security, as it considers necessary in fulfilling its duty of care to patients, staff and visitors.
The Department is fully committed to improving health and safety protection for all HPSS staff and there are a number of measures already in place to demonstrate this commitment e.g. personal alarms for lone workers, panic buttons and restricted access in A and E, CCTV, joint protocols between the Department and the Police Service of Northern Ireland on reporting incidents, publicity campaign that violent attacks on staff are crimes. Also, a controls assurance standard for security management for the HPSS is being developed and will further ensure that there is a secure environment that protects all service users, staff and visitors.
Hospital Staff Shortages
Mrs. Iris Robinson:
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many (a) operations and (b)
other hospital procedures have been cancelled at short notice over the last five years because of staff holidays. [74576]
Paul Goggins: The information requested on cancelled operations and procedures is not collected centrally. Hospitals currently use a mixture of computerised and manual theatre systems from which consistent and reliable data cannot be extracted.
A computerised regional theatre management system is currently being procured. Once it is operational in all trusts, it will be possible to obtain consistent information on cancelled operations from all trusts.
Hospital Waiting Times
Mr. Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what the average waiting time to be seen by a consultant was for people in North Belfast for (a) cardiac problems, (b) cancer and (c) other conditions in the last period for which figures are available. [74720]
Paul Goggins: The information requested is not available.
Hotels
Mrs. Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many hotel (a) rooms and (b) beds there were in each district council area in Northern Ireland (i) in the last 12 months and (ii) 10 years ago. [74388]
Maria Eagle: On 30 April 1996 there were 3,696 hotel rooms and 8,132 bedspaces available in Northern Ireland and 6,105 hotel rooms and 13,827 bedspaces on 30 April 2006. Breakdown by local authority Area is in the following table:
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