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General Practitioners (Shropshire)
Mr. Paul Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list the number of GPs in Shropshire for each year since 1979. [34868]
Mr. Milburn: The information requested is shown in the table:
| Year | Number of unrestricted principals |
|---|---|
| Shropshire | |
| 1996 | 239 |
| 1995 | 234 |
| 1994 | 218 |
| 1993 | 219 |
| 1992 | 222 |
| 1991 | 220 |
| 1990 | 216 |
| 1989 | 205 |
| 1988 | 203 |
| 1987 | 202 |
| 1986 | 195 |
| 1985 | 185 |
| 1984 | 184 |
| 1983 | 185 |
| Salop | |
| 1982 | 178 |
| 1981 | 176 |
| 1980 | 173 |
| 1979 | 170 |
Note:
Pre 1983 data refer to Salop.
Source:
General Medical Services Statistics, Department of Health, October Census, 1 October 1979 to 1 October 1996.
19 Mar 1998 : Column: 706
Netherton Park Assessment Centre
Mr. Peter Atkinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will institute an inquiry into the management of Netherton Park Assessment Centre in Northumberland. [35067]
Mr. Boateng: No. It is, in the first instance, a matter for Northumberland County Council to decide what action they propose to take in the light of complaints they have received about the management of the Centre. We will monitor the position carefully.
Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus Aureus
Mr. Corbett: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what progress has been made on revising guidance on the control of methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus in hospitals. [35146]
Ms Jowell: Clinical guidelines on the management of patients affected by methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus, published in 1990 and commended by the Department to the National Health Service in 1994, have recently been revised by the professional working group that originally produced them. It is expected that the final version of the revised guidelines will be published in the Journal of Hospital Infection in the next few months. The Department will then consider whether they should subsequently be issued to the NHS as Department of Health guidance.
Mr. Corbett: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) when he expects the first results from the pilot system of national surveillance from the 40 hospitals taking part on the control of methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus; [35144]
- (2) when the reporting of (a) bloodstream infections and (b) wound infections of patients suffering from methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus was introduced; and whether he will make a statement. [35145]
Ms Jowell:
The Nosocomial Infection National Surveillance Scheme (NINSS) is a new national surveillance system for hospital acquired infection. It is based at the Public Health Laboratory Service. NINSS will consist of a number of modules, each relating to a particular type of infection and/or group of patients.
19 Mar 1998 : Column: 707
Data from the hospitals are collected using a standard methodology and are collated and analysed by the Nosocomial Infection Surveillance Unit. Each hospital is given information about its own results together with anonymised aggregate data from the other participating hospitals. Individual results remain confidential to the particular hospital but once sufficient data have been accumulated to permit meaningful interpretation, the aggregated data will be published.
Two modules--blood stream infection and wound infections following certain surgical procedures--have so far been developed. These were successfully piloted in 1996-97 by 16 hospitals for bloodstream infections and by 34 hospitals for surgical site infection. Initial data have been fed back to these hospitals. Over 100 hospitals have now taken part in these surveillance schemes.
Data collected by NINSS include information about the causative organism of infection (where this has been isolated by the hospital's own laboratory) and its sensitivity or resistance to different types of antibiotics, including, in the case of staphylococcus aureus, sensitivity to methicillin.
Mr. Flynn:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health for the latest year for which figures are available, how many NHS prescriptions have been made (a) to all people and (b) to people aged over 60 years for each of the following neuroleptic drugs (1) chloropromaine (largactil),
19 Mar 1998 : Column: 708
(2) thioridazine (melleril), (3) haloperidol (seranace, haldol, dozic), (4) promazine (sparine), (5) flupenthixol (depixol, fluanxol), (6) olanzapine (zyprexa), (7) pericyazine (neulactil), (8) risperidone (risperdol), (9) sulpiride (dolmatil, sulpitil), (10) trifluoperazine (stelazine) and (11) clozapine (clozaril); and if he will estimate the cost to the NHS of prescribing each of them. [33902]
Mr. Milburn:
[holding answer 12 March 1998]: The information requested has been placed in the Library.
Mr. Burns:
To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department if he will publish (a) the number of places on each of his Department's non-departmental public bodies, (b) the number of places that are currently unfilled on each non-departmental public body, (c) the total number of members that have resigned since 1 May 1997, (d) the total number that have retired since 1 May 1997, (e) the total number that have not had their contracts renewed since 1 May 1997, (f) the total number that have remained in place since 1 May 1997 and (g) the total number that have been appointed since 1 May 1997. [35273]
Mr. Hoon:
The following is a table showing the requested information.
19 Mar 1998 : Column: 707
| a(3) | b | c | d | e(4) | f | g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Executive | |||||||
| Legal Aid Board | 15 | 2 | -- | 2 | 1 | 12 | -- |
| Authorised Conveyancing Practitioners Board (now inactive) | 5-9 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- |
| Advisory | |||||||
| Insolvency Rules Committee | 8 | 1 | -- | -- | 1 | 4 | 3 |
| County Court Rule Committee | 11 | 3 | -- | -- | 3 | 8 | 1 |
| Supreme Court Rule Committee | 10 | 1 | -- | -- | 1 | 3 | -- |
| Land Registration Rule Committee | 5 | -- | -- | -- | -- | 5 | -- |
| Family Proceedings Rule Committee | 9 | -- | -- | -- | 2 | 8 | -- |
| Crown Court Rule Committee | 9 | 1 | -- | -- | 2 | 7 | -- |
| Civil Procedure Rule Committee | 14 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | 14 |
| ACs on General Commissioners of Income Tax | 559 | 14 | 4 | 19 | -- | 506 | 39 |
| ACs on Justices of the Peace in England (exc. the Duchy of Lancaster) and Wales | 1,042 | 4 | 21 | 102 | -- | 899 | 139 |
| Judicial Studies Board | (5)18 | 1 | 1 | 1 | -- | 12 | 5 |
| Advisory Council on Public Records | 16 | -- | 1 | -- | -- | 11 | 5 |
| Advisory Committee on Legal Education and Conduct | 17 | 3 | 4 | -- | -- | 14 | 1 |
| Council on Tribunals | 22 | 1 | -- | 5 | -- | 17 | 4 |
| Law Commission | 5 | -- | -- | -- | -- | 5 | -- |
| Honorary Investment Advisory Committee | 6 | -- | -- | -- | -- | 6 | -- |
| Advisory Board on Family Law | 12 | -- | -- | -- | -- | (6)12 | -- |
| Civil Justice Council | 22 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | 22 |
| Northern Ireland: | |||||||
| ACs on JPs in Northern Ireland | 56 | 2 | -- | -- | -- | 54 | -- |
| AC on Juvenile Court Lay Panel | 11 | -- | -- | 1 | 1 | 10 | 2 |
| Legal Aid Advisory Committee (NI) | 11 | -- | -- | -- | -- | 11 | -- |
| ACs on GCITs | 16 | -- | -- | -- | 6 | 10 | 6 |
(3) Many of the NDPBs do not have a specific number of places. The figure given is the number normally looked for.
(4) Not on contracts, generally interpreted as not re-appointed.
(5) This does not include the members of the various committees of the Board, who are not appointed by the Lord Chancellor.
(6) The appointment of one of whom is suspended until 30 October 1998.
19 Mar 1998 : Column: 709
Law Commission
Miss Melanie Johnson: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what were the results of the quinquennial review of the Law Commission. [35693]
Mr. Hoon: A review was begun during the first part of 1997, and was completed, following the General Election, in July of that year. It concluded that a managed programme of law reform remained an essential part of a modern democracy's responsibilities and that the Law Commission remained a vital part of that process.
In the course of the review the need for a number of changes of approach to the initiation and management of law reform projects was identified.
An action plan based on the review's conclusions, agreed between the Lord Chancellor's Department and the Law Commission and approved by the Lord Chancellor in December last, is now in large part complete. The action plan has today been placed in the Libraries of both Houses.
Miss Melanie Johnson:
To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what decisions he has reached on the unimplemented Law Commission reports within the responsibility of his Department. [35694]
Mr. Hoon:
As previously indicated, the Government intend to bring forward legislation on "Delegation by Individual Trustees" (Law Com No 220) and the first part of "Restitution for Mistake of Law: Ultra Vires Public Authority Receipts and Payments Law" (Com No 227) when time permits. It will also bring forward legislation on "Privity of Contract: Contracts for the Benefit of Third Parties" (Law Com No 242), again when time permits. The Government's Green Paper on mental incapacity includes proposals in "Mental Incapacity" (Law Com No 231); the consultation period ends on 31 March.
The Government have decided not to implement "Transfer of Land--the Law of Positive and Restrictive Covenants" (Law Com No 127), but will ask the Law Commission to consider, in the context of its other priorities, how future developments in property law might affect the recommendations in this report. The Government have also decided not to implement the remaining part of "Overreaching: Beneficiaries in Occupation" (Law Com No 188), or "Land Mortgages" (Law Com No 204), as these proposals have not been supported sufficiently widely. However, we will invite the Law Commission to reconsider their proposals in "Law Com No 204" after they have finished their current work on land registration.
Decisions on other reports will, where possible, be reached by Easter and will be announced. All Law Commission reports, even though some remain unimplemented, play a valuable role in the clarification and development of the law. The Government are most grateful to the Law Commission for the extensive contribution it makes to producing a modern and effective legal framework for England and Wales.
19 Mar 1998 : Column: 710
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