Asbestos-related Disease (Hansard, 29 November 1999)

§ Mr. Worthington
To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what proposals he has to claim from asbestos manufacturers, suppliers and their insurance companies for the cost to the public purse of asbestos-related illness. [99575]

§ Mr. Bayley
The Industrial Injuries scheme provides benefits for employed earners disabled by asbestos-related illness arising out of and in the course of their employment. This benefit compensates people for a loss of faculty which results in disablement; it is not based on issues of 'fault'.
Under the provisions of the compensation recovery scheme, benefits paid as a result of asbestos-related illness can be recovered if the person suffering from the illness is awarded third party compensation. Benefits are recovered from the compensator from the date of claim to benefit in respect of the disease, subject to a five year maximum. The compensator may reduce the compensation payment to take account of this liability, but only where compensation and benefits are paid for the same need. Compensation for pain and suffering cannot be reduced.

§ Mr. Worthington
To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what representations have been made to58W him about the adequacy of the diagnosis procedures for asbestos-related diseases for qualifying for social security benefits; and if he will make a statement. [99572]

§ Mr. Bayley
Representations have been received about individual claimants, which are of course confidential. We are not aware of any representations specifically about the adequacy of diagnostic procedures for these diseases.

§ Mr. Worthington
To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what training is undergone by doctors serving his Department to enable them to distinguish between diseases having their origin in smoking and those having their origin in asbestos. [99574]

§ Mr. Bayley
Medical Services doctors receive a five day training course instructing them how to apply their medical knowledge to the legislative criteria. It includes considering the raw materials, radiological and pathological findings and clinical presentation. Each doctor is then assigned to a more experienced colleague who acts as a supervisory mentor until he or she is assessed as capable of working alone. Work is then audited regularly with quality assured processes to assess any need for further training, and the training is kept under constant review. Forms used to record medical assessments for respiratory prescribed diseases require the doctor to record details of the claimant's smoking habits.

§ Mr. Worthington
To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if it is his policy that all those claiming a social security benefit on the grounds of suffering from an asbestos-related disease should have undergone a CT scan to improve diagnosis. [99573]

§ Mr. Bayley
It is not our policy that such Social Security benefit claimants should have undergone a CT scan.
CT scans involve considerable exposure to ionising radiation. It would be incompatible with EU and UK legislation on reducing radiation exposure to set any such requirement when it is possible to award benefit on the basis of other evidence of an acceptable nature, such as ordinary chest radiographs. It is important to note that the Industrial Injuries Advisory Council (which advises the Secretary of State on this benefit) recommended in 1996 that awards for bilateral diffuse pleural thickening should be based upon the chest radiograph rather than a CT scan.