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Care Homes (Wiltshire)
Mr. Gray: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what consultation Wiltshire social services undertakes with a referred patient before placing that patient in (a) a local authority home and (b) a private sector home. [8424]
Mr. Boateng: Wiltshire social services department has informed the Department of Health that it will first assess the needs of the person. If it decides that the person requires to be placed in a residential home, it encourages the person to consider at least three homes, two of which it would expect to be within the independent sector.
Mr. Gray: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many formal notifications were made to Wiltshire's director of social services and chief executive in the last five years as a result of requirements set at inspections of care homes which have not been complied with against specified time scales. [8414]
Mr. Boateng: The Department does not specifically collect this information. However, registration authorities should return to the Department details of those home owners whose registration they refuse or cancel. This is compiled on the national list of refused and cancelled registrations which is then circulated to all local authorities in England. For Wiltshire in this period we have been notified of only one cancellation. In addition, for this period, the registration of one further home owner in Wiltshire was cancelled following appeal to the registered homes tribunal.
Mr. Gray: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much he estimates could be saved if Wiltshire county council moved its residential homes into private sector management. [8415]
Mr. Boateng: We have not made such an estimate because centrally available information does not include sufficient detail. In particular, the routine statistics do not distinguish the expenditure on placements in private care homes from those in the voluntary sector.
It is for each local authority to decide how best to arrange their community care services to meet the needs of their population. We have made it clear that it is not important whether services are provided by the public, private or voluntary sector. What is important, and what the Government are committed to, is that people will receive services which are of high quality, are responsive to their needs and wishes, and which deliver value for money.
Mr. Gray:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many (a) local authority and (b) private sector homes have block bookings by Wiltshire social services. [8417]
Mr. Boateng:
Wiltshire social services has informed the Department that it gives its in-house residential homes an annual budget. The majority of the places that it purchases from the independent sector are "spot purchased".
Mr. Gray:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many (a) county council run and (b) private sector care homes have (i) opened and (b) closed in Wiltshire in each of the last five years. [8419]
Mr. Boateng:
Information on the number of residential care homes opened and closed in the former county of Wiltshire in the years 1993-94 to 1995-96, together with
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the total number of residential care homes at 31 March 1996, is given in the following table. Reliable information is not available for earlier years. Comparable information is not available centrally for nursing care homes.
| 1993-94 | 1994-95 | 1995-96 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Local authority homes: | |||
| opened in year | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| closed in year | 2 | 1 | 0 |
| number open at end of year | 33 | 32 | 32 |
| Private sector: | |||
| opened in year | 10 | 6 | 1 |
| closed in year | 6 | 5 | 5 |
| number open at end of year | 121 | 122 | 118 |
| Voluntary sector homes: | |||
| opened in year | 5 | 6 | 5 |
| closed in year | 2 | 1 | 0 |
| number open at end of year | 56 | 61 | 66 |
Source:
Department of Health Annual Statistical return (RAC5).
Note:
1 April to 31 March of the following year in each case.
Mr. Gray: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what projections his Department has evaluated of the number of council-run care places and private sector care places which will be needed in the future in Wiltshire. [8422]
Mr. Boateng: The Department has not made any such evaluation. It is for each local authority to plan its community care services to meet the needs of its population.
Mr. Gray: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list the names by sector of the nursing home and residential care providers used by Wiltshire health authority indicating the percentage of clients funded by Wiltshire social services at each and the average weekly cost to Wiltshire county council per resident at each home. [8426]
Mr. Boateng: At 31 March 1996, there were 32 local authority care homes, 66 voluntary sector residential care homes and 118 private sector residential care homes in former county of Wiltshire. In addition there were a further 85 private nursing homes within the Wiltshire and Bath health authority area at the same date. A list of the names of all these homes has been placed in the Library.
Information is not collected centrally on the numbers of residents in each home who are supported financially by the local authority nor on expenditure related to such placements, so costs cannot be calculated at the level of individual homes. Such expenditure information as has been provided in respect of the former Wiltshire is of total, rather than the usual gross, expenditure by sector. Weekly costs based on this measure of expenditure could not take account of income received from other local authorities in respect of residential provision in Wiltshire of clients normally resident outside the county boundary and would not be comparable with weekly costs produced for other local authorities.
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| Local authority | Voluntary sector residential care | Private sector residential care | Private nursing care | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Number of financially supported residents supported in homes in Wiltshire | 963 | 78 | 681 | 611 |
| Percentage of all residents in homes in Wiltshire | 91 | 13 | 35 | 27 |
| Number of financially supported residents supported in homes outside Wiltshire | -- | 16 | 94 | 120 |
Source:
Department of Health Annual Statistical returns (RAC5, SR1).
Mr. Gray: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many nursing home patients have been placed in council-run residential homes in Wiltshire in the last five years. [8423]
Mr. Boateng: Local authorities are required to provide services which meet the assessed needs of the individual. If a person has been assessed as needing care in a nursing home the local authority cannot place them in a residential home.
Mr. Gray: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much Wiltshire social services has spent on places in (a) council and (b) private care homes in each year since 1991. [8425]
Mr. Boateng: Routine financial statistics returned by the former Wiltshire county council have wrongly included expenditure on independent sector provision along with that on local authority homes and therefore do not provide the information requested. The following breakdown of the statistics has been obtained specially from the authority but the figures are of total expenditure rather than the usual gross expenditure and so take no account of any income received by the authority from other local authorities in respect of residential provision in Wiltshire of clients normally resident outside the county boundary.
| Sector of home | 1993-94 | 1994-95 | 1995-96 |
|---|---|---|---|
| (a) Local authority | 17 | 16 | 16 |
| (b) Independent sector | 5 | 15 | 20 |
| (c) Total | 22 | 31 | 35 |
Comparable figures for earlier years are not available from the authority.
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Mr. Gray: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much he estimates needs to be spent on Wiltshire county council care homes to bring them up to (a) 1984 Government minimum standard and (b) 1997 Government standards. [8413]
Mr. Boateng: The information needed to make such an estimate is not available centrally. The Government have made no changes to the Registered Homes Act 1984 and associated regulations which sets out the requirements which care homes must meet to obtain and retain registration under the Act.
Mr. Gray: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what is the patient/staff ratio in (a) local authority and (b) private nursing and residential homes in Wiltshire. [8420]
Mr. Boateng: Latest centrally available information for 1995-96 shows that the ratio of residents to directly employed staff in local authority residential homes for adults in the former county of Wiltshire was 1.36 to 1 and the ratio of residents to nursing staff in private nursing homes in the Wiltshire and Bath health authority area was 1.08 to 1. Staffing information is not collected centrally in respect of private residential homes.
Mr. Gray: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment his Department has made of the Pannell Kerr Forster review of services for the elderly commissioned by Wiltshire county council. [8416]
Mr. Boateng: The Department has not assessed the Pannell Kerr Forster Review of Services report. This review was commissioned by Wiltshire county council, and it is for them to consider its findings.
Mr. Gray: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what is the present number of vacancies in (a) council-run and (b) private nursing and residential homes in Wiltshire.[8418]
Mr. Boateng: Information on the number of vacancies in residential and nursing care homes in the former county of Wiltshire as at 31 March 1996, the latest date for which information is available centrally, is given in the table.
| Sector and type of care home | Number of vacancies | As percentage of total places |
|---|---|---|
| Local authority care homes | 114 | 9.7 |
| Private residential care homes | 449 | 18.6 |
| Voluntary residential care homes | 79 | 11.3 |
| Private nursing homes(12) | 454 | 16.7 |
Source:
Department of Health annual statistical returns (RAC5 and K036)
Note:
(12) Private and voluntary nursing homes registered with Wiltshire and Bath health authority.
Mr. Gray: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what is the (a) average and (b) the longest stay in hospital of a patient awaiting placement in long-term care by Wiltshire social services. [8421]
Mr. Boateng:
The Department does not have this information. Wiltshire has informed the Department that their policy on this issue is that they aim to place people in a care home as soon as possible after the assessment has taken place, and the person has decided on a care home of his/her choice.
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