§ Mr. Ashleyasked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will take steps to provide central monitoring of the level of pest infestation and the expenditure on methods to prevent it within the National Health Service; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. HayhoeThere are no plans to provide central monitoring of pest infestation within the National Health Service. It is the responsibility of health authorities to establish effective procedures for monitoring their premises calling upon professional advice as necessary.
§ Mr. Ashleyasked the Secretary of State for Social Services (1) what figures are available on the level of expenditure on pest control in the National Health Service;
278W(2) on how many occasions his Department has been told that an operating theatre has had to be closed because of pest infection.
§ Mr. HayhoeI regret that this information is not collected centrally.
§ Mr. Ashleyasked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will instruct all general managers to identify a person in their authority to take responsibility for pest control and to take steps to ensure that the appointed person takes the training course run by his Department's pest advisory control service.
§ Mr. HayhoeThese matters are being considered in the context of the revised guidance on food hygiene and pest control in the National Health Service, which is at present in preparation.
§ Mr. Ashleyasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what evidence he has regarding the incidence of severe pest infestation in hospitals; and what was the source of the evidence.
§ Mr. HayhoeThe latest information available on the incidence of Pharaoh's ants in National Health Service Hospitals in England indicated that 11.6 per cent. of hospitals surveyed were infested. These figures are taken from: Edwards J. P. and Baker L. F., 1981, "Distribution and importance of the Pharaoh's ant Monomorium pharonis (L) in National Health Service Hospitals in England", Journal of Hospital Infection 2, 249–254. There is no information on the prevalence of other pest species in National Health Service hospitals, but I am aware of the concern expressed by the British Pest Control Association in its publication "Hospitals Can Damage Your Health" published last year.
§ Mr. Ashleyasked the Secretary of State for Social Services (1) how many surveys of pest infestation in hospitals have been carried out by his Department's pest advisory service either alone or in conjunction with other agencies; what was the nature of the surveys; what were the findings and the recommendations; and if he will place the surveys in the Library;
(2) how many hospitals have been visited in the last year by members of his Department's pest control advisory service; if the advisory service makes unsolicited visits; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. HayhoeSince 1976, the Department's pest control advisers have carried out 73 surveys at the request of individual health authorities, including 20 visits in the past year. The findings and recommendations relate to the needs of individual hospitals and I do not therefore consider it appropriate to place them in the Library. Unsolicited visits are not made.