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16 Apr 2007 : Column 218W—continued
Stillbirths: Miscarriage
Mrs. Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what the procedures are for returning body parts to families following stillbirths and miscarriages; and where body parts are stored following stillbirths or miscarriages in Northern Ireland. [130696]
Paul Goggins: The Human Tissue Act 2004 set out a new legal framework for the removal, storage and use of tissue and organs from the deceased. The Act also established the Human Tissue Authority as the regulatory body for these matters.
The Authority published six codes of practice on the removal, storage, use and disposal of human tissue and organs, which were laid before the Northern Ireland Assembly on 19 July 2006 and notified to the HPSS by the acting chief medical officer in August. All trusts in Northern Ireland are required to comply with these codes. In addition, the DHSSPS has issued a “Careplan for Women who Experience a Miscarriage, Stillbirth or Neonatal Death” and explanatory booklets to accompany the consent forms that are used to record a family' s wishes in respect of a hospital post mortem examination and the removal, use and disposal of human tissue.
Parents who have suffered a stillbirth or miscarriage are given oral and written information and asked whether they wish to have their baby or the tissue that was in the womb examined pathologically. This would involve a post mortem examination or histopathological examination in a laboratory. They will also be asked how they wish the remains to be disposed of, which can be arranged either by the hospital or the family.
Depending on the decisions taken by the family, the remains may be stored in a mortuary or pathology laboratory. All babies greater than 12 weeks’ gestational size have their post mortem examination carried out in the Royal Hospital's mortuary. The return of a baby, foetus or miscarriage tissue to a family may be via a funeral director or directly to the family.
Suicide
Mrs. Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how much money was spent on combating suicide in Northern Ireland in each of the last 10 years. [131626]
Paul Goggins: It is not possible to provide information in the precise form requested. A large number of organisations, statutory and non-statutory have been involved in suicide prevention work during this period.
Prior to the publication of the Northern Ireland Suicide Prevention Strategy, “Protect Life A Shared Vision” on 30 October 2006. the issue of suicide prevention was tackled through implementation of the Promoting Mental Health Strategy and Action Plan. This strategy contains 10 specific actions relating to suicide prevention, including the promotion of coping skills and the development of a suicide awareness programme.
The funding for the Promoting Mental Health Strategy and Action Plan for each of the years since its launch in 2003 is set out in the following table.
| Funding (£) | |
Following concern about an increasing number of local suicides, a separate suicide prevention strategy for Northern Ireland has recently been developed. The
funding allocated specifically for the implementation of this new strategy is shown in the following table.
| Funding (£) | |
The figures aforementioned do not incorporate substantial funding made available via mental health services, other Departments and/or contributions made by many community and voluntary organisations such as the Samaritans and Aware Defeat Depression, all of which contribute to suicide prevention.
Mrs. Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many suicides were committed in each constituency in Northern Ireland in each of the last 10 years. [131629]
Mr. Hanson: The following table gives the number of deaths registered in Northern Ireland by parliamentary constituency due to ‘suicide and self-inflicted injury’(1) and ‘undetermined injury whether accidentally or purposefully inflicted’(2) in each year between 1996 and 2005.
(1) International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision codes X60-X84, Y87.0 for years 2001-05 and Ninth Revision codes E950-E959 for years 1985-2000.
(2) International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision codes Y10-Y34, Y87.2 for years 2001-05 and Ninth Revision codes E980-E989 for years 1985-2000.
| Number of registered deaths due to ‘suicide and self-inflicted injury’ and ‘undetermined injury whether accidentally or purposefully inflicted’ by parliamentary constituency, 1996-2005 | ||||||||||
| Registration year | ||||||||||
| Area | 1996 | 1997 | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 |
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