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9 Oct 2006 : Column 624W—continued
Family Planning Clinics
Sandra Gidley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many family planning clinics have been operating in each of the last 10 years, broken down by trust. [90277]
Caroline Flint: This information is not held centrally.
Flu Vaccine
Mr. Salmond: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether there are sufficient stocks of influenza vaccine for winter 2006-07. [89352]
Mr. Spellar: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will make a statement on the availability of influenza vaccines in autumn 2006. [89731]
Caroline Flint: The United Kingdom Vaccine Industry Group has confirmed that the volume of flu vaccine available for 2006-07 will total more than 15 million doses, which we estimate to be sufficient for the UK’s needs.
Foreign Nurses
Steve Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether foreign nurses already working in the UK who wish to change jobs within the NHS are eligible to be considered for employment on the same terms as British nurses; and if she will make a statement. [89874]
Ms Rosie Winterton: The removal of agenda for change band 5 and band 6 nurses from the shortage occupation list will have no impact on work permit holding nurses already working in the United Kingdom who are seeking extensions to their existing work permits or who wish to move employers to take up employment at the same grade. The resident labour test is not applied under these circumstances.
If an overseas nurse is seeking a promotion, or is moving to a post with a significantly different job description/terms of conditions, then a resident labour test will have to be applied before a further work permit is considered.
GMOs
Mr. Peter Ainsworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) how she plans to enforce the law prohibiting the sale of (a) unauthorised genetically modified organisms and (b) LL601 rice for human consumption; [92222]
(2) what analysis the Food Standards Agency has undertaken to ascertain the safety of LL601 rice for human consumption. [92223]
Caroline Flint: EC Regulation 1829/2003 (The Genetically Modified Food and Feed Regulation) prohibits the placing on the market of unauthorised genetically modified (GM) food. This includes LL601 rice. This regulation is implemented in England by The Genetically Modified Food (England) Regulations 2004 (Statutory Instrument 2004/2335) and The Genetically Modified Feed (England) Regulations 2004 (SI 2004/2334).
Enforcement of this regulation falls to local authorities in the same way that they are responsible for enforcement of other areas of food law. Local authorities have been advised of the contamination of American long grain rice by the Food Standards Agency.
The Food Standards Agency was notified about the GM contamination on 21 August by the United States Department of Agriculture. In the absence of an opinion from the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), the Agency consulted two members of the independent Advisory Committee on Novel Foods and Processes on the safety of LL601 rice for human consumption. The members of the committee considered a dossier of data provided by Bayer Cropscience and advised that the contamination of LL601 rice at the levels present was not a health concern.
The EFSA undertook a more detailed risk assessment and concluded that the consumption of imported long grain rice containing trace levels of LL601 rice is not likely to pose an imminent safety concern to humans or animals. The Food Standards Agency has accepted the EFSA opinion which was published on 15 September.
Gynaecologists
Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many senior positions for gynaecologists have been advertised and filled since January 2005 in NHS hospitals; and if she will make a statement. [89707]
Ms Rosie Winterton: This information is not collected centrally.
Health Appointments
Mr. Andrew Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the dates of (a) inauguration and (b) appointment were of the (i) chairman, (ii) chief executive and (iii) non-executive directors of each of the new (A) strategic health authorities and (B) primary care trusts in England. [92238]
Ms Rosie Winterton: The strategic health authorities (SHAs) were established on 1 July 2006. The chairs and chief executives of all the SHAs were appointed from the same date. All the non-executive directors of eight of the SHAs were also appointed from the same date. All non-executives in the Yorkshire and Humber SHA were appointed from 1 October 2006. In South West SHA all but two were appointed from 1 July 2006. Of the remaining two, one was appointed from 1 September and the other from 1 October.
The new primary care trusts were established on 1 October 2006. All chair, chief executive and non-executive director appointments made have been from the same date.
Health Industry Meetings
Sandra Gidley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health on what occasions the Commercial Director of the Department of Health has met representatives of (a) health insurers and (b) major private sector healthcare providers in each of the last three years. [89975]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: The director general of the Department's commercial directorate regularly meets representatives from private healthcare providers as part of his role to secure best value from those providers for the Department and the national health service. To provide information on each meeting and those with health insurers in the last three years would incur disproportionate costs.
Sandra Gidley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health on how many occasions the Commercial Director of the Department of Health met representatives of United Health Europe in each of the last three years. [89976]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: The director general of the Department's commercial directorate has not had meetings with representatives of United Health Europe (UHE). However there will have been occasions, such as at the NHS Confederation conference, where UHE and the director general shared a speaking platform.
HIV
Mr. Slaughter: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many cases of HIV were diagnosed in London in 2005. [90227]
Caroline Flint: 3,132 individuals were diagnosed with HIV in London in 2005.
Notes:
1. Data, which are provided by the Health Protection Agency www.hpa.org.uk, include HIV diagnoses reported by the quarter ending 30 June 2006.
2. This figure may include some records of the same individuals that are unmatchable because of differences in information supplied.
3. Numbers may increase as reports of further diagnoses are received.
Hospital Closures
Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what procedures are followed when it is proposed that a hospital should be closed. [83204]
Andy Burnham:
Section 11 of the National Health Service and Social Care Act 2001 sets out the duty on the NHS to engage with the public and section 7 sets
out the duty to consult publicly through the overview and scrutiny committee when the proposed change is substantial.
New guidance on public engagement and consultation is being prepared for publication in the autumn.
Infant Mortality
Mr. Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the infant mortality rate has been in each year since 1997, broken down by socio-economic group. [92031]
John Healey: I have been asked to reply.
The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.
Letter from Colin Mowl, dated 9 October 2006:
The National Statistician has been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question asking what the infant mortality rate has been in each year since 1997, broken down by socio-economic group. I am replying in her absence. (92031)
Socio-economic group is not measured in exactly the same way in the statistics for 1997 to 2004. Until 2000 infant mortality rates were published by Social Class based on father's occupation. In 2001 Social Class was replaced by the National Statistics Socio-economic Classification (NS-SEC), and infant mortality figures have been published by NS-SEC. It is not possible to use NS-SEC for data prior to 2001 because there is not a one-to-one equivalence with the pre-2001 classification; an approximation is used, referred to as NS-SEC90 because it is based on the 1990 occupational classification. NS-SEC90 was used specifically to aid interpretation of trends over time in infant mortality.
The table below shows infant mortality rates in England and Wales by NS-SEC90 from 1997 to 2001 and by NS-SEC from 2001 to 2004 (the latest year for which figures available).
There is an overall downward trend in all groups. In 2001, special work was undertaken to code data to both NS-SEC90 and NS-SEC. Whilst the rates for ‘managerial and professional’ and ‘routine and manual’ occupations are the same, for both classifications, there is a difference of 0.2 infant deaths per 1,000 live births in the ‘intermediate’ occupations. This suggests that a slight downward adjustment is needed. Further details are available in: Rowan S. Implications of changes in the UK social and occupational classifications in 2001 on infant mortality statistics. Health Statistics Quarterly 17, 2003, 33-40. http://www.statistics.gov.uk/downloads/theme_health/HSQ17.pdf
| Infant mortality rates( 1) by National Statistics Socio-economic Classification (NS-SEC)( 2) , England and Wales, 1997-2004 | |||||
| NS-SEC | NS-SEC90 | ||||
| (3-class version) | 1997 | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 |
| NS-SEC | NS-SEC | |||
| (3-class version) | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 |
| (1) Deaths under 1 year of age per 1,000 live births (2) NS-SEC is used for 2001 onwards: NS-SEC90 is used for years 1997-2001 (3) Infants born inside marriage or outside marriage jointly registered by both parents Source: ONS | ||||
Liver Disease
Mr. Salmond: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many (a) admissions to hospitals to treat alcoholic liver disease and (b) liver disease deaths there were in each year since 1996. [89350]
Caroline Flint: The following tables give detail admissions to hospitals to treat liver disease and liver disease deaths.
| Counts of finished admission episodes where there was a primary diagnosis code for alcoholic liver disease (ICD-10 = K70) national health service hospitals, England 1996-97 to 2004-05 | |
| Finished admission episodes | |
| Source: Hospital Episode Statistics, The Information Centre for Health and Social Care | |
| Number of deaths from liver disease, England and Wales, 1996-2004( 2) | ||
| Number of deaths from liver disease | ||
| All liver disease( 1) | ( 2) Of which: alcohol-related | |
| (1) Selected using the International Classification of Diseases Ninth Revision (ICD-9) codes 570-573 from 1996 to 2000, and using the Tenth Revision (ICD-10) codes K70-K77 from 2001 onwards. (2) Selected using the International Classification of Diseases Ninth Revision (ICD-9) codes 571.0-571.5 and 571.7-571.9 from 1996 to 2000, and using the Tenth Revision (ICD-10) codes K70, K73, K74. 0-K74.2 and K74.6-K74.9 from 2001 onwards. (3) The introduction of ICD-10 for coding cause of death in 2001 means that figures are not completely comparable with data for years before this. | ||
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