| Previous Section | Back to Table of Contents | Lords Hansard Home Page |
BSE
Baroness Byford asked Her Majesty's Government:
- Further to Written Answer by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath on 15 January (WA 149), how many of the eight meat plants affected have rectified their controls; how many of the eight have resumed exports to the United Kingdom; and what special extra inspections are in place in the United Kingdom to check their output. [HL2519]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Health (Lord Hunt of Kings Heath): According to information provided to the Food Standards Agency by the competent authority in each of the member states concerned, the extent of the enhanced supervision of curtailment of operations at the eight affected meat plants was as set out in the following table. Janice
| Name and address of Plant | Nature of Action taken by the Member State competent authority |
| Liffey Meats Ballyjamesduff Co Cavan Republic of Ireland | Slaughter for human consumption suspended on 2 February 2001. Slaughter for human consumption re-authorised on 8 February 2001. |
| NFZ Norddeutsche Fleischzentrale GmbH Kalkar Germany | Licence suspended on 8 March 2001 and restored on 12 March 2001. |
| Gausepohl Fleisch GmbH, Bakum Germany | Licence suspended on 26 June 2001 and restored on 2 July 2001. |
| Mueller Fleisch GmbH, Birkenfeld Germany | Licence suspended on 7 March 2001 and restored on 8 March 2001. |
| Gross- und Versandschlachterei VOSDING GmbH & Co.Kg, Wilhelmshaven Germany | Licence suspended on 30 March 2001 and restored on 3 April 2001. |
| Brada's Vleeschbedrijf BV, Leevwarden Netherlands | Licence suspended on 6 to 9 March 2001 and restored on 12 March 2001. |
| Danish Crown The Skive, Brarupsgade 6 7800 Skive Denmark | Plant ordered to re-inspect all cuts of meat for spinal cord. Plant to introduce own checks and demonstrate their efficiency to Danish Food and Veterinary Adminstration. |
| Industria Carni SNC, Carema, Torino Italy | Licence suspended on 22 March 2001 and restored on 30 March 2001. |
Plants whose licences have been restored are free to supply meat throughout the European Union single market. Information is not available concerning which plants are currently supplying the United Kingdom market.
Beef imported into the UK from any of the affected plants is not subject to extra inspection since the Food Standards agency has given instructions that all consignments of imported carcass beef arriving at licensed premises in the UK should be checked. These checks are carried out by the Meat Hygiene Service in Great Britain and by the Veterinary Service of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development in Northern Ireland. Local authorities have also been advised to conduct checks on imported beef arriving at meat products or meat preparation plants under their supervision.
The Countess of Mar asked Her Majesty's Government:
Lord Hunt of Kings Heath: Estimates of the number of cases of food poisoning published by the Food Standards Agency (FSA) have been derived from different sources and are explained in the following paragraphs. It is not possible to provide a definitive figure.
Estimates of the number of cases of food poisoning quoted in the advertising for the FSA's Food Hygiene Campaign (up to 4.5 million a year) are taken from a large scale government funded survey (1994–95) of infectious intestinal disease (IID), which reported 9.4 million cases. On the basis of organisms identified from laboratory testing, the proportion of the 9.4 million IID cases that may have been transmitted by food was estimated to be between 17 per cent and 50 per cent. The figure "up to 4.5 million" represents about 50 per cent of the 9.4 million IID cases.
The 2001 FSA Consumer Attitudes to Food Survey of people over 16 years of age was published on 11 February 2002. This nationally representative survey revealed that 12 per cent of those interviewed claimed to have experienced diarrhoea and/or vomiting attributed to food eaten in the United Kingdom in 2001. The FSA estimated that in the 16 and over age group this would correspond to about 5.5 million cases of food poisoning in 2001. These are calculated by multiplying the percentage of respondents who said they had experienced food poisoning in the last year by the most recent figure provided by the Office of National Statistics for the UK population aged 16 years and over.
The FSA has set a target to reduce the number of cases of food poisoning in the UK by 20 per cent by 2006. Because there is no definitive figure for the number of cases of food poisoning, the FSA has taken
Earl Howe asked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether the National Care Standards Commission has made available from 1 January 2002 the required application forms to allow applicants to complete the registration requirements prior to 31 March 2002, as set out in Clause 15 of the Care Standards Act Commencement and Transitional Order (S.I. 2001/3852); and, if not, why not; and[HL2938]
Whether, in view of the delays in making available the application forms for the National Care Standards Commission registration process, they will consider extending the deadline for the registration of applications beyond 31 March 2002 deadline set out in the Care Standards Act Commencement and Transitional Order (S.I. 2001/3852).[HL2939]
Lord Hunt of Kings Heath: The printed registration application packs for those who are required to apply for registration with the National Care Standards Commission (NCSC) by 31 March 2002, as set out in the Care Standards Act Commencement and Transitional Order (S.I. 2001/3852), were available from the commission as of Tuesday 19 February 2002. The application pack was also available on the NCSC website from 15 February.
Copies of the application pack are being sent directly to the providers that the commission is aware of and who need to apply. Other providers who have not yet contacted the commission can now obtain the packs by calling the NCSC Helpline (0191 233 3556).
The application pack was not available earlier because it was necessary to ensure that full information about the process of application for different service areas was included.
The Department of Health does not intend to extend the deadline for those who must make applications to the commission by 31 March. Providers will have had over five weeks before the deadline passes to submit their applications.
Rebo
Lord Jenkin of Roding asked Her Majesty's Government:
Lord Hunt of Kings Heath: The Government recognise that a set of national standards covering both the clinical and technical requirements of information communication technology backed by appropriately targeted resources and performance managed outcomes is required to support systems of maintaining patient records in order to secure the benefits of genetic services. However, as indicated in the Government's response to the House of Lords Select Committee on Science and Technology (Cm 5236, July 2001) a unified information system is not seen as feasible or desirable. Building the Information Core (www.doh.gov.uk/ipu/strategy/update/index.htm), updates the information strategy for the National Health Service and describes how a more corporate approach will be adopted to implement this recommendation.
Lord Clement-Jones asked Her Majesty's Government:
Lord Hunt of Kings Heath: There will continue to be two levels of access to over the counter medicines. General sale list medicines will continue to be available from a range of retail outlets. Pharmacy medicines will continue to be available from pharmacies. As part of National Health Service arrangements, medicines will continue to be administered or supplied by a range of professional staff or prescribed by doctors, dentists and some nurses. We are taking action to enable more nurses to prescribe a wider range of medicines from April of this year. In addition, the Department of Health and the Medicines Control Agency will consult shortly on proposals to introduce supplementary prescribing for nurses and pharmacists. Depending on the circumstances, prescribed medicines will continue to be dispensed by hospital or community pharmacies
How many cases of food poisoning have been reported by the Food Standards Agency since its inception; and how these figures were derived.[HL2869]
In view of the timescale set down in Clause 15(1) and (2) of the Care Standards Act Commencement and Transitional Order (S.I. 2001/3852) for registration applications to be submitted between 1 January 2002 and 31 March 2002, on what date the required printed paperwork will first be made available to prospective applicants; and[HL2937]
Whether, if National Health Service patients are to secure the benefits of genetic services as promised by the Secretary of State for Health on 16 January, the National Health Service needs to standardise its systems of maintaining patient records as recommended by the House of Lords Select Committee on Science and Technology in its report, Human Genetic Databases: challenges and opportunities (4th Report, Session 2000–01, HL Paper 57).[HL2675]
Whether, in the light of recent developments to improve access to the National Health Service by widening the availability of advice and treatment they can clarify what levels of access there will be to medicines both over the counter and through the National Health Service itself.[HL2997]
Next Section
Back to Table of Contents
Lords Hansard Home Page