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Health: A&E
Baroness Tonge asked Her Majesty's Government:
How many Accident and Emergency departments have been closed by London hospital trusts in the last 36 months. [HL1735]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Health (Lord Darzi of Denham): The information requested is not held centrally. Any changes to the provision of emergency care facilities including accident and emergency departments, are matters for the local National Health Service.
Health: Single-sex Accommodation
Baroness Meacher asked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether they will ensure that all patients who need or wish to be treated in single-sex accommodation in mental health services are so treated. [HL1662]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Health (Lord Darzi of Denham): Appropriate gender separation on mental health units is essential for privacy, dignity and safety. The environment plays an important part in this, however policy, practice and training are equally important. Good progress on mixed-sex accommodation in mental health has been made; 70 per cent of available beds across the mental health estate is in single rooms. Recent guidance to the National Health Service makes it clear that men and women in mental health units should never have to share bedrooms, or bed bays, with the opposite sex. However, we know that further improvements can be made and consequently have included mixed-sex accommodation in the operating framework for the NHS this year to make sure that it is at the top of the agenda. Primary care trusts have been asked to assess the situation in all their trusts and to agree and publish stretching plans for improvement.
7 Feb 2008 : Column WA202
House of Lords: Members' Tax Returns
Lord Tebbit asked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether the tax returns and records of members of the House of Lords are subject to the same level of security by HM Revenue and Customs as those of members of the House of Commons. [HL1655]
Lord Davies of Oldham: HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) applies high standards of confidentiality and security to all customer data. Additional safeguards may be provided, within HMRC, for the records of members of the House of Lords, depending on their personal circumstances.
NHS: Food
Baroness Tonge asked Her Majesty's Government:
What mechanisms are in place for patients to comment on the food they receive in NHS hospitals; and [HL1730]
Whether the NHS offers advice to patients regarding what food to bring with them for a prolonged stay in an NHS hospital; and [HL1731]
Whether NHS hospitals are required to state clearly whether the food they provide for patients' consumption contain nuts or other ingredients that may cause allergic reactions; and [HL1733]
How they plan to increase the number of nutritional screening policies in place in NHS hospitals; and whether they plan to make screening of patients for undernutrition a mandatory requirement on the NHS. [HL1734]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Health (Lord Darzi of Denham): Patients are able to comment on the food they receive in hospitals in several ways. The Healthcare Commission National Inpatient survey (due to be published this year) asks a sample of patients, how they would rate hospital food and if they were offered a choice of food. The Healthcare Commission's Maternity Survey 2007 also asked women for information about the quality and quantity of food they received during their time in hospital. Additionally, patients are able to comment directly to the nursing staff on the ward. This will facilitate an immediate resolution to any problems at source. Trusts may also conduct their own patient satisfaction questionnaires to assess patient satisfaction with hospital meals.
All hospital inpatients are entitled to have their meals provided free of charge in National Health Service hospitals. Some patients may wish to bring their own food into hospital and individual trusts will advise patients on whether this is appropriate. They will also advise on the safe management of food they bring in.
Patients who have identified food allergies should be provided with an appropriate meal that meets their dietary needs. The patient's name and diet type is normally clearly identified on the meal.
The Food Standards Agency has issued best practice advice to help food retailers and caterers
7 Feb 2008 : Column WA203
Local National Health Service trusts are responsible for nutrition screening policies. To help trusts devise their policies we have produced Essence of Care which sets benchmarks for screening and assessment to identify patients' nutritional needs in health and social care settings, and helps healthcare professionals form appropriate care plans.
We have also produced the Improving Nutritional Care, which outlines a range of actions to tackle malnutrition and ensure the nutritional needs of older people in hospitals and care homes are better met. It aims to ensure that health and social care staff and managers are well informed, equipped and supported to provide good nutrition and effective nutritional care.
The National Patient Safety Agency is also supporting the wide use of screening across the NHS.
Prisoners: Voting Rights
Lord Hylton asked Her Majesty's Government:
What conclusions they draw from the consultation on the voting rights of convicted prisoners; and when they intend to implement the decisions of the European Court of Human Rights on this matter. [HL1641]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Ministry of Justice (Lord Hunt of Kings Heath): The Government are currently considering how to take forward the implementation of the Hirst judgment in light of the first stage consultation on this issue.
Prisons: Circuit Judges
Baroness Corston asked Her Majesty's Government:
How many judges went on circuit for the last year for which figures are available; and, of these, how many visited a women's prison while on circuit. [HL1658]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Ministry of Justice (Lord Hunt of Kings Heath): Eighty puisne judges of the High Court Judge sat on circuit during 2007, the breakdown between the three divisions being as follows:
In addition, two of the Heads of Division—the President of the Queen's Bench Division and the Chancellor of the High Court—also sat on circuit during the same period.
Records are not kept (by the Judiciary or the Judicial Office) of visits undertaken by individual judges to prisons (male or female).
7 Feb 2008 : Column WA204
Questions for Written Answer: Unanswered Questions
Lord Tebbit asked the Leader of the House:
Further to her Written Answer on 17 January (WA 107) in reply to a Question asking why 64 Written Questions were overdue for Answer on 6 December 2007, why there remained 51 overdue Questions on 16 January. [HL1656]
The Lord President of the Council (Baroness Ashton of Upholland): My office continues to work closely with departments to address the issue of outstanding Questions for Written Answer and to ensure they are answered accurately and wherever possible within the 14-day deadline. On Thursday 7 February there remained 32 Written Questions overdue for Answer.
Railways: West Coast Main Line
Lord Bradshaw asked Her Majesty's Government:
How they propose to deal with any capacity problems on the West Coast Main Line railway which may arise if the existing trains and platforms are not lengthened and adequate car parking facilities are not provided. [HL1671]
Lord Bassam of Brighton: A 30 per cent increase in capacity will be available on the West Coast Main Line with the intensification of the new timetable, currently planned for introduction in December this year.
The provision of extra capacity for long-distance services on the West Coast Main Line is envisaged in the high level output specification (HLOS) statement published in July 2007. The Rolling Stock Plan published on 30 January 2008 set out an indicative number of 106 additional vehicles for InterCity West Coast by 2014.
The existing West Coast Trains franchise is committed to putting forward business cases for expansion of car parking accommodation along the route. Such work is well advanced.
Scotland: Reserved Matters
The Earl of Mar and Kellie asked Her Majesty's Government:
Which reserved matters in Schedule 5 to the Scotland Act 1998 are capable of devolution to the Scottish Parliament. [HL1694]
Lord Davies of Oldham: Since 1999 Schedule 5 to the Scotland Act has been amended nine times. The Government will only consider further changes to the devolution settlement which strengthen Scotland's position in the Union.
7 Feb 2008 : Column WA205
Southampton Docks: Container Crane
Earl Attlee asked Her Majesty's Government:
What assessment they have made of the economic consequences of the collapse of the container crane at Southampton docks and of the adverse impact on the ability of the United Kingdom to import shipping containers. [HL1718]
Lord Bassam of Brighton: The immediate impact of the collapse of the crane (and the subsequent withdrawal from service of a number of other similar cranes, pending inspection) has been that around 40 per cent of vessels have had to be diverted from Southampton to other European container ports. However, by increasing the productivity of other cranes, Southampton Container Terminals Limited (SCT) has continued to serve the larger turnaround vessels from China and the Far East, minimising the impact on customers and the supply chain.
SCT are working with the crane inspectors and the HSE to ensure that the affected cranes are phased back into operation as soon as possible. In addition, two new “super post panamax” gantry cranes are expected to become operational during June 2008. On this basis, it is unlikely that the incident will have a significant impact on UK container capacity beyond the short term.
Telecommunications: Mobile Charges
Lord Dykes asked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether they will hold discussions with United Kingdom mobile telephone companies to promote
7 Feb 2008 : Column WA206
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (Baroness Vadera): The Government hold regular discussions with mobile phone companies operating in the UK at which a number of issues are discussed. The regulator, the Office of Communications (Ofcom), holds discussions with all the UK mobile phone operators regarding the roaming regulations generally, including compliance with the pricing caps.
The Mobile Roaming (European Communities) Regulations which came into force on 30 July 2007 set a downward path for the cost of both calls made and received in each of the next three years. Moreover, the regulations require regulators to report on progress in the roaming market and the EU Commission is obliged to bring forward proposals by December 2008 on whether it wants to extend regulation beyond a time period of three years. The Government would continue to welcome comment from either business or consumers on the implementation and future of regulation in this area.
Vehicles: Speed Limits
Lord Laird asked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether they have considered requiring all road vehicles sold in the United Kingdom to have a maximum speed of 70 miles per hour; and, if so, what was the result of any such consideration. [HL1771]
Lord Bassam of Brighton: The Government are not aware that any such specific consideration has taken place.
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