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TRADE AND INDUSTRY
Import Restrictions
Mr. Mullin : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what consideration has been given to revising or removing the restrictions on imports from Vietnam following the introduction of the market system in that country.
Mr. Sainsbury : Restrictions on imports from Vietnam are subject to regular review in the light of foreign and trade policy considerations.
Mr. Mullin : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will impose restrictions upon imports of textiles from Thailand in the light of revelations about the use of child and forced labour in that country.
Mr. Sainsbury : The EC, acting under the aegis of the multi-fibre arrangement, already restricts imports of a
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wide range of textiles products from Thailand. Child labour and forced labour are extremely complex issues often born out of poverty and social deprivation. The most effective way to eradicate these problems is, I believe, to improve the underlying economic and social conditions. Open trade, rather than further trade restrictions, is more likely to contribute to this process.Israel
Mr. Latham : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry whether he will make a statement on trade links between the United Kingdom and Israel ; and what action he is taking to encourge them.
Mr. Sainsbury : Trade links between the United Kingdom and Israel are good. Trade between the UK and Israel exceeded £1 billion for the first time in 1990--UK exports £558 million, UK imports £502 million. Israel is a priority market for export promotion under the British Overseas Trade Board's forward plan. My Department supports the activities of the British overseas trade group for Israel. I intend to visit Israel later this year to encourage trade and investment links.
Mr. Latham : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry whether he will make a statement on his Department's note of guidance to British exporters regarding the Arab trade boycott of Israel ; and when it was last revised.
Mr. Sainsbury : My Department's guidance note on the Arab boycott seeks to inform British firms on Government policy towards the boycott, to help remove misunderstandings about the operation of the boycott as it affects them and to provide them with information to assist their decisions about trading with the Arab world and Israel. The note, copies of which are in the Library, was last revised in January 1991.
Mr. Latham : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry whether he will make a statement on all recent and proposed trade missions to Israel supported financially or administratively by his Department.
Mr. Sainsbury : During the financial year 1990-91, my Department provided financial support for three trade missions to Israel organised by the British overseas trade group for Israel. In the current financial year a further four such missions are due to receive support.
HEALTH
NHS Trusts
Mr. Allen : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what is his current policy towards the collection of information by his Department on the number of jobs lost and beds closed as a result of units becoming NHS trusts ; and if he will make a statement on his future policy on this matter.
Mr. Waldegrave : I do not anticipate bed closures and job losses "as a result of units becoming NHS trusts".
Both trusts and directly managed units need to fit their staff numbers to the efficient fulfilment of the health care
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contracts placed on them by health authorities. As in the past, some will doubtless expand in numbers and other contract. We do not routinely collect this kind of data from either NHS trusts or directly managed units. It is the responsibility of NHS trusts to determine the number of staff needed to provide the level of patient care contracted for.Mr. Robin Cook : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what is the timetable for the second wave of NHS trusts.
Mrs. Virginia Bottomley : Each trust application is the subject of public consultation lasting three months. My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State expects to be able to announce his decisions on the second wave applications in the autumn. The second wave of trusts will become fully operational in April 1992.
Mr. Robin Cook : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what types of information NHS trusts are expected to include in their business plans to be submitted to the national health service management executive.
Mrs. Virginia Bottomley : Business plans are expected to set out in financial terms how a trust will deliver the services that the purchasers have commissioned from it. The plans contain financial projections covering income and expenditure, assets, source and application of funds, contract and activity analysis, cash flow and capital projects. They also include information on services provided, quality, training and teaching, research and personnel.
Mr. Robin Cook : To ask the Secretary of State for Health by what date NHS trusts were required to submit their business plans to the NHS management executive ; and how many trusts submitted their plans by the date.
Mr. Waldegrave : NHS trusts were originally asked to submit their business plans to the NHS management executive--NHSME--by 8 March 1991. Although none of the trusts met this deadline they discussed their reasons individually with the NHSME and of the 57 NHS trusts, 53 have now submitted complete business plans and another three partially completed plans.
Mr. Robin Cook : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what is the current value of the net assets of each NHS trust used to calculate the capital element of their contract prices.
Mr. Dorrell : I refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave him on 5 February at columns 96-97.
Mr. Hardy : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what range of salaries or other remuneration is paid to chief executives, managing directors and directors of those NHS trusts which operate ambulance services.
Mrs. Virginia Bottomley : The salaries of chief executives and other directors are a matter for the trust board.
Mr. Hardy : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what commercial operations are now offered or are being proposed by those NHS trusts providing ambulance services other than the conveyance of patients or responding to emergencies.
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Mrs. Virginia Bottomley : These NHS trusts offer a range of services. They are free to supplement their NHS income through additional services as long as they are not to the detriment of their patients and do not interfere with their ability to meet their NHS obligations.Occupational Therapy
Ms. Walley : To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) if he will give details of the national shortfall in occupational therapists region by region ;
(2) if he will give details of the number of trained occupational therapists who will complete training in each of the next five years.
Mrs. Virginia Bottomley : Table 1 shows the percentage of occupational therapists posts in each region which had been vacant for three months or more at 31 March 1990. Steps are being taken to balance supply and demand. These include increasing the number of training places and encouraging and supporting retention and return initiatives undertaken by health authorities and the College of Occupational Therapists. These measures have contributed to the 28.7 per cent. increase in the number of occupational therapists between 1985 and 1989.
Table 2 shows the intakes to training in England and Wales for the last three years, and gives an indication of the potential output of qualified occupational therapists over the next three years.
Table 1
Vacancy levels for Occupational Therapists<1>
Regional Health Authority |Vacancies as
|a percentage
|of Funded
|Establishment
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Northern |20.5
Yorkshire |14.3
Trent |14.5
East Anglian |12.0
North West Thames |16.6
North East Thames |22.0
South East Thames |23.7
South West Thames |16.7
Wessex |11.4
Oxford |10.1
South Western |7.1
West Midlands |13.6
Mersey |10.6
North Western |11.4
Source: Joint National Professional Manpower Initiative
<1>Vacancies of 3 months or more on 31 March 1990 as a percentage of funded
establishment.
Table 2 Intakes to Occupational Therapist training<1> England and Wales 1988 |1989|1990 -------------------- 827 |836 |872 <1>Excludes "In-Service" training courses.
Fertility
Ms. Richardson : To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what information he has on how many men and women have received medical help for infertility in the last year for which figures are available ;
(2) if he will indicate which district health authorities provide (a) ovarian scanning, (b) radio-immune assay service, (c) artificial insemination, (d) IVF and (e) GIFT.
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Mrs. Virginia Bottomley : This information is not held centrally. The provision of infertility services is a matter for individual health authorities to decide in the light of local needs and priorities.
Ms. Richardson : To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many district health authorities no longer provide sterilisation operations on social grounds ; and if he will name these authorities.
Mrs. Virginia Bottomley : Information about the provision of sterilisation operations is not routinely collected. Regional and district general managers were recently reminded of existing guidance which makes it clear that male and female sterilisation operations should be available under the NHS on both family planning and medical grounds.
Pain Relief
Mr. Wigley : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will now take steps to ensure that adequate data are collected within the NHS concerning pain relief ; and what approaches he has had from the Pain Society on this matter.
Mr. Dorrell : Information on pain relief is not collected centrally because it is not a recognised medical specialty.
Pregnancy Testing
Ms. Richardson : To ask the Secretary of State for Health which district health authorities do not provide routine pregnancy testing.
Mrs. Virginia Bottomley : This information is not collected centrally.
Housing and Health
Mr. Battle : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on his Department's assessment of the relationship between standards of housing and health.
Mr. Waldegrave : A range of environmental factors, including poor housing conditions, can have an adverse effect on health. "Health of the Nation", published on 4 June, a copy of which is available in the Library, sets out proposals for improving standards of health and includes details of action the Government have already taken to improve housing conditions.
Miscarriage Association
Dr. Twinn : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans he has to support the Miscarriage Association ; and whether he will make a statement.
Mrs. Virginia Bottomley : The Miscarriage Association provides valuable support to many women who have had the misfortune to suffer a miscarriage. In recognition of its work we have recently awarded the association an increased core grant of £10,000 per annum and a project grant of £5,000 per annum. Both grants are for three years. The project grant is intended to help the Miscarriage Association improve the service it provides to ethnic minority communities.
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Breast Screening
Dr. Twinn : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on the relevance to the United Kingdom breast screening programme of the results of the Canadian trial of breast screening.
Mrs. Virginia Bottomley : The adverse results of the reported Canadian trial have no direct relevance to the NHS breast screening programme. These research results relate to women under 50 while the United Kingdom programme covers women aged 50 and over. There is considerable international research evidence that in older, post-menopausal, women mammographic screening, followed by appropriate treatment where necessary, can reduce mortality from breast cancer by about a quarter in the age group screened. Women who are invited to attend for screening should do so.
Death Rates
Mr. Cousins : To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) if he will publish tables showing the death rate trends for coronary heart disease, stroke and cancer in each social class on the same basis of sex and age-group as that provided in annexes A, B and C of the document entitled, "The Health of the Nation" ;
(2) if he will publish tables showing the death rate trends for coronary heart disease, stroke and cancer of each national health service region in England, showing males and females separately and distinguishing age groups in the same manner as annexes A, B and C of the document entitled, "The Health of the Nation" ; and if he will give the average trends on the same basis for England as a whole over the same period.
Mr. Dorrell : The information requested could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Child Employment Legislation
Mrs. Margaret Ewing : To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what is his estimate of the number of schoolchildren working part-time who are in breach of child employment legislation regulations ; and if he will make a statement ;
(2) what is his estimate of the number of schoolchildren working part-time who are in breach of child employment
legislation/regulations ; and if he will make a statement.
Mrs. Virginia Bottomley : The available information relating to prosecutions and convictions for the illegal employment of children in different areas of employment is shown in the tables.
(a) Non-industrial undertakings
Figures notified to the Home Office for prosecutions and convictions in England and Wales under sections 18, 19 and 20 of the Children and Young Persons Act 1933 :
Year |Prosecutions|Convictions ---------------------------------------------------- 1979 |23 |18 1980 |26 |25 1981 |24 |22 1982 |17 |16 1983 |12 |12 1984 |12 |9 1985 |11 |9 1986 |2 |2 1987 |8 |8
1988 |28 |22 1989 |23 |19
Information relating to the employment of children in Scotland is a matter for my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Scotland.
(b) Industrial undertakings
Informations laid by HSE's Factory and Agricultural Inspectorates for breaches of section 1 of the Employment of Women, Young Persons and Children's Act 1920 and concerning the illegal employment of children.
Year<1> |Informations|Convictions
|laid
----------------------------------------------------
1981 |4 |4
1982 |4 |4
1983 |3 |3
1984 |6 |6
1985 |8 |6
<2>1986 |4 |4
1986-87 |11 |9
1987-88 |2 |2
1988-89 |7 |7
1989-90 |8 |6
<1>1981-85, calendar years.
<2>1986, January to March 1986.
1986-87 onwards, years commencing 1 April.
(c) Agricultural Undertakings
Information laid by HM Agricultural Inspectorate against persons at work who put at risk children under the age of 16 by the contravention of agricultural legislation :
Year<1> |Informations|Convictions
|laid
----------------------------------------------------
1981 |40 |37
1982 |31 |24
1983 |18 |16
1984 |16 |15
1985 |30 |27
1986 |27 |22
1987 |21 |15
<2>1988 |3 |3
<3>1988-89 |18 |17
<1>1981-1987-Calendar years.
<2>1988-1 January to 31 March.
<3>1988-89-Year commencing 1 April (provisional).
Figures for industrial and agricultural undertakings apply to Great Britain
GP Fundholders (Contracts)
Mr. Blunkett : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what restrictions exist on the freedom of general practitioner fundholders and national health service consultants to consider contracts along the lines of those contracted by Trafalgar Medical Services in Sheffield ; and what monitoring his Department proposes to undertake of such arrangements.
Mr. Dorrell : General practice fundholders are free to place contracts for the limited range of hospital services covered by the fundholding scheme with providers who they consider will give the best care to their patients.
Where general practice fundholders wish to contract with a non-NHS provider with which any member of the practice is connected, the National Health Service
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(Fund-holding Practices) (General) Regulations 1991 require the practice to obtain the written consent of the regional health authority. Regional health authorities are expected to consider whether such proposals will provide a proper quality of care for patients and value for money compared with the alternatives available.HIV (Anonymised Screening)
Mr. Strang : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what is his latest estimate of the number of people tested for HIV in the programme of anonymised screening at drug dependency units, for each of the health authorities participating in the programme ; and what was the date on which the programme began in each authority.
Mrs. Virginia Bottomley : Voluntary unlinked anonymous HIV antibody surveillance of saliva specimens from injecting drug users at a range of centres including drug dependency units began in December 1989 in London and in January 1990 outside London. The results will be published shortly.
Mr. Strang : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will give his latest estimate of the number of pregnant women who have been tested for HIV in the programme of unlinked anonymised screening of (a) rubella blood samples, (b) Guthrie cards and (c) in total, for each of the health authorities participating in the programme ; and if he will give the dates of commencement of the programmes in each authority.
Mrs. Virginia Bottomley : Unlinked anonymous surveillance of leftover blood samples from women attending antenatal clinics began in early 1990 in centres in inner London and in other districts in the Thames regions. In districts outside the Thames regions the programme began in mid to late 1990. At 22 May 1991, a total of 32, 979 samples from women in inner London, 20,133 samples from women in other districts in the Thames regions and 21,144 samples from women in districts outside the Thames regions had been tested. Information about the number of Guthrie cards tested is not available centrally. The Guthrie card survey is not part of the Government's programme of suveys but is funded by the Medical Research Council and co-ordinated by the Institute of Child Health.
Mr. Strang : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will give his latest estimate of the number of hospital in-patients who have been tested for HIV in the programme of unlinked anonymised screening, for each of the health authorities participating in the programme ; and if he will give the dates of commencement of the programme in each authority.
Mrs. Virginia Bottomley : A feasibility study of unlinked anonymised HIV surveillance of hospital patients began in two centres in February 1991. Sera are stored and will be tested in batches. No blood has yet been tested.
Mr. Strang : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what is his latest estimate of the total number of people screened for HIV in the programme of unlinked anonymised screening (a) by each of the health authorities participating in the programme and (b) in total.
Mrs. Virginia Bottomley : The number of people screened for HIV in the programme of anonymised HIV surveys is given in the following table.
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|Number
-------------------------------------------------------------
Ante natal clinics to 22 May 1991
South-West Thames RHA |9,732
South-East Thames RHA |15,121
North-East Thames RHA |20,113
North-West Thames RHA |8,146
Yorkshire RHA |15,979
North Western RHA |5,165
Genito urinary medicine clinics to 24 May 1991
2 London clinics |5,085
4 clinics outside London |6,610
Saliva swabs from injecting drug users
The results of this survey are not yet available but will be
soon.
Mr. Strang : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what is his latest estimate of the number of people tested for HIV in the programme of anonymised screening at genito-urinary medicine clinics, for each of the health authorities participating in the programme ; and what was the date on which the programme began in each authority.
Mrs. Virginia Bottomley : The studies in genito-urinary medicine clinics began in spring of 1990 in two clinics in London and later that year in four clinics outside London. At 24 May 1991, a total of 5,085 samples for people attending clinics in London, and 6,610 samples from people attending clinics outside London had been tested.
Kidney Dialysis
Sir Michael McNair-Wilson : To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will give the numbers of people receiving kidney dialysis treatment in the age brackets (a) 0 to 20 years, (b) 21 to 40 years, (c) 41 to 60 years and (d) 61 to 80 years, or comparable age divisions.
Mr. Dorrell : The table gives estimates of the numbers of people receiving dialysis treatment according to 20-year age bands as at 31 December 1990.
Age |Number ----------------------- Under 20 |349 21 to 40 |2,163 41 to 60 |3,233 61 to 80 |1,907 Over 80 |101
The figures are based on returns from renal units in 1990 adjusted to take account of the response rate and apportioned according to the age distribution of services in 1989.
Blood Transfusion Service
Sir Michael McNair-Wilson : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what is the relationship between the blood transfusion service and the national health service hospital trusts ; whether it is intended to give the service its own trust status ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Dorrell : The establishment of NHS trusts has had no effect on the relationship between hospitals and the regional transfusion centres-- RTCs--which continue to supply blood to all hospitals on a basis of clinical need. There are no current applications from RTCs for trust status.
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Kidney Transplant Operations
Sir Michael McNair-Wilson : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what is the average cost of a kidney transplant operation ; who bears the cost ; and what part of it is made up of booking the operating theatre.
Mr. Dorrell : The average annual cost of a kidney transplantation in the year of operation is around £10,000. For NHS patients the cost is borne by the health authority responsible for the care of the patient. The cost of booking the operating theatre is not separately identifiable.
Prescription Charges
Mrs. Mahon : To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) how much it would cost to make the long-term sick in receipt of invalidity benefit automatically exempt from prescription charges ;
(2) how many invalidity benefit recipients are not entitled to free prescriptions.
Mrs. Virginia Bottomley : This information is not available centrally.
East Birmingham Hospital
Mr. Terry Davis : To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) how many people had been waiting for more than a year for an operation in East Birmingham hospital on (a) 31 December 1989 and (b) 31 March 1991 ;
(2) what percentage of the total on in-patient waiting lists at East Birmingham hospital on 31 March 1990 had been waiting for (a) more than one year and (b) more than two years.
Mrs. Virginia Bottomley : Waiting time information by individual hospital is not available centrally. The hon. Member might like to contact Mr. Nigel Thompson, the chairman of East Birmingham health authority, for details.
Smoking
Mr. Dalyell : To ask the Secretary of State for Health what is his Department's assessment of the medical effects of smoking 20 cigarettes a day.
Mr. Dorrell : Cigarette consumption at this level results in a serious risk of developing a whole range of life-threatening diseases. The smoker's chances of contracting lung cancer, chronic obstructive airways disease and coronary heart disease are much enhanced. In addition there is an increased risk of contracting the following diseases :
Cerebrovascular disease
Cancer of the lip, oral cavity and pharynx
Cancer of the oesophagus
Cancer of the larynx
Cancer of the pancreas
Peripheral vascular disease.
There is also evidence that other conditions are associated with smoking, including :
Low birthweight babies (where the mother smokes during pregnancy)
Aortic aneurysm
Cancer of the bladder
Cancer of the cervix
Cancer of the stomach
Cancer of the kidney
Peptic ulcer.
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