HL Deb 15 February 1979 vol 398 cc1395-8

3.17 p.m.

Lord PLANT

My Lords, I beg leave to ask the Question which stands in my name on the Order Paper.

The Question was as follows:

To ask Her Majesty's Government how the statistics on infant mortality in Northern Ireland compare with those for other regions of the United Kingdom, particularly with other development and depressed areas, and with those for other industrial countries and other member States of the EEC.

The MINISTER of STATE, NORTHERN IRELAND OFFICE (Lord Melchett)

My Lords, the rates of perinatal and infant mortality in Northern Ireland are higher than the overall rates for the rest of the United Kingdom, the other EEC countries and industrial countries in Western Europe and North America. In certain industrial areas of the United Kingdom, rates are higher than or similar to those in Northern Ireland.

Lord PLANT

My Lords, while thanking my noble friend for his frank reply, I feel that it will cause some concern to the citizens of Northern Ireland. Does he agree that the relatively high rate of infant mortality in Northern Ireland reflects the general level of deprivation experienced by the whole of the community? Therefore, would he undertake research to find out which infants are at greatest risk? Would he also undertake research towards lowering the rate of infant mortality in this unhappy Province?

Lord MELCHETT

Yes, my Lords, I agree with my noble friend that one of the major factors at work is the general level of poverty and deprivation in Northern Ireland. As to which sections of the community are most affected, clearly it is those in the lower social classes who have the worst records of infant mortality and perinatal mortality and, therefore, clearly those who are suffering most from poor housing and low income levels in Northern Ireland, as elsewhere in the Western world. At the end of last year, the Government set up a high level committee in Northern Ireland to look into this question and to recommend the priorities by which we should act. The fact that infant mortality rates can be substantially reduced is already well known and experience in many other Western European countries shows that this is possible. We have asked this committee to report as urgently as possible on the priorities by which we should tackle the question in Northern Ireland.

Lord WYNNE-JONES

My Lords, can my noble friend say that the high infant mortality in Northern Ireland is due to a low standard of living, or is it due to poor ante-natal care?

Lord MELCHETT

My Lords, without wanting to pre-empt the report that this committee may make, I think that poverty and the factors associated with poverty are likely to be the major reasons. The standard of ante-natal care in Northern Ireland tends to be very high, but there is another problem on the medical side, namely, the lack of concentration of acute medical facilities and particularly maternity units. My noble friend may have seen an article in the Guardian this week which mentioned that factor. This is something on which the Government are pressing ahead as rapidly as possible, although of course there is a good deal of local opposition to the concentration of acute medical facilities in Northern Ireland.

Lord SEGAL

My Lords, can my noble friend say how the infant mortality statistics of Northern Ireland compare with those of the rest of Ireland?

Lord MELCHETT

No, my Lords, I am afraid I do not answer in this House for the Republic of Ireland and I do not have the statistics to hand, but if there are any published figures I will let my noble friend have them.

Lord DUNLEATH

My Lords, would the noble Lord agree that the higher cost of energy in Northern Ireland places a grave burden on many family budgets, and that therefore the level of heating available in houses where there are infants and the level of nutrition available to them is perhaps inferior to that which may exist in the rest of the United Kingdom?

Lord MELCHETT

My Lords, certainly the high level of cost in. domestic heating is one of the factors which causes the overall level of poverty in Northern Ireland to be the highest of any region in the United Kingdom. As I have already said, I am sure that is a major factor in the very bad figures that we in Northern Ireland have. Maybe I might just add that although the figures are bad they have been improving particularly rapidly in the last two years for which figures are available, 1975/77. However, although things are improving, we still have a long way to go.

Lord SMITH

My Lords, can the noble Lord tell us whether the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists has been brought into the discussions that have taken place so far? By their very Charters our Royal Colleges are supposed to protect standards on behalf of the community, and if they were brought in here I believe that the network of regional advisers which all colleges have set up would be of great use. May we know whether this is so?

Lord MELCHETT

Yes, my Lords. Many of the leading hospital and university specialists from Northern Ireland are represented on the committee which, as I mentioned, was set up by the Government at the end of last year, along with family doctors, community physicians, midwives, health visitors and so on. It is a broadly representative committee with a great deal of the expertise that is available in Northern Ireland at the moment.