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Charities
Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what discussions he has had with ministers on proposals to amend charity law to enable charities in receipt of Section 64 grants to improve accountability of their use of public funds; and if he will make a statement. [104820]
Mr. Hutton:
None. Government funding for voluntary organisations, including aspects of accountability, is however to be covered in a Code of Practice to underpin the "Compact on Relations between Government and the Voluntary and Community Sector
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in England". The Department is involved with the voluntary sector in the development of the Code and will encourage the application of its principles at local level.
Dr. Kumar:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health when he will reply to the question tabled by the hon. Member for Middlesbrough, South and East Cleveland on 1 December for answer on 6 December relating to death rates from cancer (ref. 101422). [104772]
Yvette Cooper:
I replied to my hon. Friend on 11 January, Official Report, column 140W.
Mr. Robathan:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health when he will appoint board members for the university hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust. [104823]
Mr. Denham:
Following the recent appointment of Philip Hammersley CBE as chair of the University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust, the non-executive directors will be appointed shortly.
Mr. Ruane:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many GP referrals were there of people with mental health problems in each of the last 10 years. [105120]
Mr. Hutton:
The Department does not keep central records of the diagnosis given by General Medical Practitioners to their patients. However, records have been kept since 1995-96 of the number of written referrals to specialised NHS mental health services. These show:
| Year | Q1 | Q2 | Q3 | Q4 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1995-96 | 54,014 | 53,527 | 51,908 | 59,627 | 219,076 |
| 1996-97 | 57,551 | 54,843 | 59,227 | 60,392 | 232,013 |
| 1997-98 | 61,771 | 58,307 | 59,549 | 62,183 | 241,810 |
| 1998-99 | 56,819 | 55,901 | 57,570 | 61,463 | 231,753 |
| 1999-2000 | 56,966 | 55,667 | -- | -- | -- |
Source:
QM08 quarterly return from NHS trusts
Mr. Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what were the sickness rates of staff employed in NHS mental health services for each of the last 10 years. [105122]
Mr. Denham:
According to a survey conducted by the Department in 1998-99 the average sickness absence rate for staff directly employed by National Health Service trusts was 4.6 per cent. This is equivalent to approximately eight million out of the 176 million days worked each year by National Health Service staff. Details of the survey can be found in Health Service Circular 1999/229, "Managing Violence, Accidents and Sickness Absence in the NHS", copies of which are available in the Library. Similar information for earlier years, and information about staff working in mental health services, is not collected centrally, but may be held
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locally by individual National Health Service employers. We have agreed improvement targets for health authorities and NHS trusts to
Mr. Hutton:
The information requested is not available centrally.
Mr. Ruane:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health what was the average annual caseload for (a) mental health social workers, (b) mental health occupational therapists, (c) psychiatric nurses and (d) psychologists for each of the last 10 years. [105123]
Mr. Hutton:
The information in the form requested is not collected centrally.
Information about the number of patient contacts with the Occupational Therapy Services, Community Psychiatric Nursing Services and Clinical Psychology Services is collected annually and published by the Department. The latest information is contained in the following summaries which are available in the Library; "Occupational Therapy Services, Summary Information for 1998-99, England", "Patient Care in the Community, Community Psychiatric Nursing, Summary Information for 1998-99, England" and "Clinical Psychology Services, Summary Information for 1998-99, England". Information about patient contacts made by mental health social workers is not collected centrally.
Mr. Ruane:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much of the additional money allocated for the NHS in the Comprehensive Spending Review has been earmarked for NHS mental health services. [105118]
Mr. Hutton:
"Modernising Mental Health Services" set out our vision for safe, sound and supportive mental health services for working age adults. In launching the strategy we announced additional funding over the 3-year Comprehensive Spending Review period of £700 million for health and social services.
Over the 3-year Comprehensive Spending Review period (1999-2000 to 2001-02) at least £500 million will be ear-marked for mental health services from within the modernisation funds for health and social services. Of this over £300 million will come from the National Health Service modernisation fund.
Mr. Ruane:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health what was the total number of staff working in NHS mental health services in each of the last 10 years. [105121]
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Mr. Denham:
The information requested is not held centrally. The Workforce Action Team charged with taking forward the Mental Health National Service Framework workforce, planning, education and training underpinning programme, is seeking to map the mental health workforce.
Mr. David Stewart:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will provide free eye tests and prescriptions for the disabled. [105162]
Mr. Hutton:
The extensive exemption and remission arrangements mean that many disabled people in England are entitled to free prescriptions and sight tests. Similar arrangements exist elsewhere in the United Kingdom but are now a matter for the devolved Administrations.
Dr. Cable:
To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department, what plans the Lord Chancellor has to strengthen the supervision of solicitors with particular regard to (a) investigation of solicitor negligence and (b) more stringent penalties to be imposed by the Office for the Supervision of Solicitors in cases of poor service. [104630]
Jane Kennedy:
Allegations of negligence are reviewed by the Office for the Supervision of Solicitors, which, as it cannot give legal advice, has set up a panel of independent solicitors to whom such allegations may be referred. The panel solicitors will advise the complainant on whether a solicitor has been negligent and if so what action can by pursued. It is thereafter a decision for the complainant how to pursue the matter. However, the position on how complaints about negligence are handled is kept under review.
The Office for the Supervision of Solicitors can currently award compensation of £1,000 for inadequate professional service. However, the Lord Chancellor has exercised his powers to increase the limit to £5,000. This is to take effect from 31 March 2000.
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Mr. Matthew Taylor:
To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department, if he will list the items in the National Assets Register sold by his Department, its agencies and associated public bodies since 11 February 1999, stating in each case the amount of money realised; if he will estimate the total amount raised from such sales to date; and if he will make a statement. [104473]
Jane Kennedy:
Details of the items in the asset registers of the Lord Chancellor's Department, its agencies and associated public bodies, which have been sold since 11 February 1999, along with the amount of money realised from such sales to date are listed in the table. For further details and an estimate of asset sales for 1999-2000, I refer the hon. Member to a written answer that I gave to the hon. and learned Member for Harborough (Mr. Garnier) on 2 November 1999, Official Report, columns 156-57W.
"achieve year on year improvement in sickness absence rates"
of 20 per cent. by 2001 and 30 per cent. by 2003.
Mr. Ruane:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what was the staff-to-patient ratio in NHS mental health services for each of the past 10 years; [105119]
(2) what was the ratio of National Health Service employees working with people with mental health problems per 100,000 of the population, in each of the past 10 years. [105084]
| Description | £ |
|---|---|
| Land and Buildings | 301,019 |
| Motor Vehicles | 24,550 |
| Computer Equipment | 2,950 |
| Other Equipment | 1,467 |
| Total | 329,986 |
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