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Care Statistics
Mr. Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what were the (a) mean and (b) median rate per 1,000 people aged 65 years and over in England of households receiving (i) intensive home care and (ii) community- based care for each of the last two years. [108346]
Mr. Hutton [holding answer 3 February 2000]: The information available is in the table. The community based services which have been included are home help/care services, meals services and day centres. Information is only available on number of households for home help/care services.
(18) Intensive home help/home care is defined as households receiving six or more visits and total contact of five or more hours in a week.
(19) Community based services has been defined as those receiving home help/care, meals in their own homes and those attending day centres.
(20) In 1997, the number of attendances at day centres was collected. In 1998, there was a change in definition to collect attendees at day centres. Therefore figures for 1998 are not directly comparable with earlier years.
Note:
Survey week, September
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Mr. Field:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health what percentage of people in England aged 16 years and over smoked in (a) 1997, (b) 1998 and (c) 1999. [108342]
Yvette Cooper
[holding answer 3 February 2000]: The available information is given in the table:
| Year | Percentage |
|---|---|
| 1996-97 | 28 |
| 1998-99 | 27 |
Notes:
1 The data are rounded to the nearest whole figure.
2 The sample size for England was 13,381 in 1996-97 and 12,295 in 1998-99.
Source:
Office for National Statistics: Living in Britain: Results from the 1996 and 1998 General Household Surveys
Amputations (Ethics)
Mr. Gordon Prentice: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what recent discussions he has had with the BMA concerning the ethics of amputating healthy limbs as a way of addressing a mental health problem. [108577]
Mr. Hutton: No discussions have taken place with the British Medical Association concerning the ethics of amputating healthy limbs as a way of addressing a mental health problem.
Doctors' decisions about treatment and care for a patient are based on a thorough assessment of the individual's condition, taking account of the patient's needs and wishes, the evidence base for the effectiveness of treatment, and the resources available.
Primary Care Groups
Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if it is the Government's intention that the support of a primary care group and its constituent general practitioners will be required by the Secretary of State before he approves its progression to primary care trust status. [108870]
Mr. Denham:
Each application for Primary Care Trust (PCT) status will be carefully considered against the national criteria published in Health Service Circular 'HSC 1999/167'. This guidance makes clear that those wishing to form PCTs should demonstrate broad local
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support and include the relevant Primary Care Group, constituent general practitioners, community and practice nurses, other clinical professional staff and partner organisations in their consultations.
Mr. Burns:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to his answer of 1 February 2000, Official Report, column 565W, on waiting lists, for what reason he did not list the weeks in which information on waiting lists would be published in the next 12 months. [108764]
Mr. Denham:
Because it is not usual practice under this Government or the previous Government for the Department to announce publication dates of official statistics more than one month in advance.
Mr. Jim Cunningham:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans he has to develop continuing medical training and education for general practitioners. [108509]
Mr. Denham:
Continuing professional development (CPD) in general practice is important. Learning must be lifelong and cannot cease at the end of formal training. To provide the best possible service to their patients general practitioners should keep up to date with advances in patient care and continually review and improve their knowledge, skills and abilities. We are considering proposals for developing CPD in primary care, building on the many examples of good work already being done by GPs and extending these principles to all primary care staff.
Mr. Jim Cunningham:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate he has made of trends in the number of HIV/AIDS related deaths; and if he will make a statement. [108513]
Yvette Cooper:
An estimate of the trend in HIV/AIDS related deaths has been made by looking at the number of deaths reported by the end of the year in which they occurred for the last decade. Since 1990 the number of HIV/AIDS related deaths rose each year until 1994 and then declined so that in 1998 they were less than a third of those in the mid-1990s. This decrease was maintained in 1999, but without further decline from the 1998 number of deaths.
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Mr. Jim Cunningham:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans he has to develop prison health care. [108511]
Mr. Hutton:
We have accepted the recommendations made in the report on 'The Future Organisation of Prison Health Care' published last year 1 . Two new joint Prison Service/National Health Service Executive units are being established: a prison healthcare task force and a prison health policy unit to help support and lead the reform of prison healthcare.
Prisons and health authorities are being asked to examine together the health needs of prisoners, identify appropriate services to meet those needs and effective ways of delivery. This work is being co-ordinated by the Prison Health Task Force, supported by Prison Service Area Managers and the NHS regional offices, and early pilots are underway in 12 prisons. More generally ten joint Prison Service/NHS Executive regional seminars were held in the past three months to help reinforce links and support joint planning.
Mr. Jim Cunningham:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans he has to combat mental health problems amongst the homeless. [108510]
Mr. Hutton:
The Department is working with the Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions to fund services through the Homeless Mentally Ill Initiative in line with the principles of the Government's national strategy for rough sleeping.
We are making available £9.6 million for 1999-2000 to 2001-02 to provide services for homeless people with mental health problems in London. An additional £1 million is being provided in 2000-01 to support additional specialist mental health workers and housing and resettlement services to support the launch of our strategy to reduce rough sleeping in England by two thirds by 2002.
21 areas outside London with rough sleeping problems are receiving funding of £4.5 million over 1999-2000 to 2001-02 for local authorities to provide social care services for the homeless mentally ill. This is mainly in the form of specialist mental health support workers who work as part of a team doing outreach work and undertaking assessments of needs.
The needs of the homeless mentally ill will also be addressed through the Mental Health National Service Framework. Standard one of the Framework relates to health promotion and specifically highlights the homeless as one of the vulnerable population groups whose mental health, local authorities and health authorities should seek to improve.
Mr. Jim Cunningham:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the proliferation of spongiform encephalopathies. [108508]
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Yvette Cooper:
Sporadic Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (CJD) is the most common form of spongiform encephalopathy in people, with an incidence in the United Kingdom and world-wide of approximately one per million of the population, per year. For variant CJD--the form of CJD linked to exposure to the BSE agent--a total of 52 definite or probable cases have so far been confirmed in the UK. The Department publish data on the incidence of all types of CJD in a monthly press release. The next one will be issued Monday 7 February. Copies will be available in the Library.
1 'The Future Organisation of Prison Health Care: Report by the Joint Prison Service and National Health Service Executive Working Group'. Department of Health, March 1999.
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