§ Mr. Maddenasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what reports he has received in the past year indicating the incidence of dysentery within the United Kingdom; how many such representations he has received in the past year; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. John PattenDysentery is a notifiable disease. In 1983, the provisional number of notifications of cases of dysentery in the United Kingdom was 7,055. We have received no representations about the incidence of dysentery in the past year.
§ Mr. Maddenasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what requests for assistance or advice he has received from Bradford to combat a serious outbreak of dysentery in Bradford district; what assistance or advice has been given to Bradford; what is the diagnosis of the strain of dysentery that has occurred in Bradford; what information he has as to the type of climatic conditions the strain of dysentery in Bradford requires to spread; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. John PattenInfectious disease control is the responsibility of the local authority's medical officer of environmental health. With the current outbreak of sonne-dysentery in Bradford, which is the most common strain of the disease in this country, the Bradford MOEH is being assisted by the communicable disease surveillance centre of the public health laboratory service to discover the cause of the outbreak. Every effort is being made to stress the importance of high standards of personal hygiene in order to contain the outbreak.
§ Mr. Maddenasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what discretion local offices of his Department have to offer assitance to those suffering from dysentery, especially having regard to the supplies of disinfectants, and so on; how many such people are receiving help in Bradford and elsewhere; how many applications for help in Bradford and elsewhere have been refused; and if he will make a statement.
§ Dr. BoysonThe circumstances in which additional weekly payments and single payments of supplementary64W benefit can be awarded are prescribed in the supplementary benefit regulations. Their application in individual cases is a matter for the independent adjudicating authorities.
Supplementary benefit claimants may be entitled in appropriate cases to additional weekly payments for laundry costs which are higher than normal or for the cost of extra baths, and to single payments for bedclothes. No specific provision is made for help with the cost of disinfectant. In certain circumstances however a single payment may be made for an item which is not specified elsewhere in the regulations where such a payment is the only means whereby serious damage, or serious risk to the health and safety of the claimant or his or her dependant(s), can be prevented. Regulations do however preclude the award of a single payment for medical needs.
Statistics have not been kept on the number of people who have claimed help through the supplementary benefit scheme with expenses resulting from the outbreak of dysentery in Bradford. We are however, aware of three claims, all successful, for single payments for bedclothes as a result of the outbreak.