§ Mr. Gregory CampbellTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what plans there are to introduce an alternative surveillance system in light of the decision to abolish the Home and Leisure Accident Surveillance System. [117791]
§ Mr. SutcliffeAlthough no new data will now be collected for MASS, the Government recognise that the existing database will remain a valuable resource for many years which should continue to be available for users. It will, therefore, be looking for proposals from other organisations that would be interested in taking it over. The value of the database should be enhanced by the inclusion of the last three years data which has been delayed by IT problems. The Government hope to be able to publish this later this year.
The report of the Accidental Injury Task Force identified a need to strengthen the surveillance of accidental injury at regional and local levels in the NHS. This will be the Government's first priority. However, it is too soon to say whether NHS surveillance will collect data on product involvement in accidental injuries in the sort of detail which HASS has provided. If detailed data is required on product safety issues, this can be collected through targeted surveys.