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Eating Disorders
Mr. Heald: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many hospital admissions there were in (a) 1997 and (b) in the most recent year for which figures are available in respect of eating disorders. [24533]
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Jacqui Smith: In 1997–98 there were 1,990 admissions for people with eating disorders and 1,780 in 1999–2000. The data are taken from hospital episode statistics and relate to in-patients who have finished their hospital episodes under the care of a consultant. The 1999–2000 figures are provisional as no adjustments have been made for shortfalls in the data.
Mr. Heald: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what his estimate is of the number and proportion of (a) men and (b) women who suffer eating disorders; and how many have suffered from such disorders during their lifetimes. [24532]
Jacqui Smith: Information on the number of people with eating disorders is not collected centrally by the Department.
Tilt Report
Mr. Heald: To ask the Secretary of State for Health which recommendations in the Tilt report have been implemented. [24527]
Jacqui Smith: The position regarding the implementation of the recommendations in the Report of the Review of Security at the High Security Hospitals (the Tilt report) is set out in the tables at Annex A, which have been placed in the House of Commons Library.
Hepatitis C
Dr. Iddon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people are receiving the combination treatment, ribovarin plus alpha-interferon, for hepatitis C in the United Kingdom. [24885]
Yvette Cooper: The information requested is not collected centrally.
Stroke Treatment
Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what action he is taking to ensure that stroke patients, regardless of age, have access to specialist stroke teams and are able to participate in a multidisciplinary programme of rehabilitation; [24361]
- (2) how he will ensure that younger people who suffer strokes receive the support they need to promote independence; and if he will make a statement; [24360]
(3) what action he is taking to ensure that the standard for stroke care, published in the National Service Framework for Older People, will apply to stroke patients of all ages. [24359]
Jacqui Smith: The Stroke Standard in the National Service Framework for Older People, the service model it details for integrated stroke services and the milestones for action it sets should apply equally to all stroke patients, irrespective of age. Integrated stroke services will need to cover or link to prevention, acute care, rehabilitation and long-term support for stroke patients and their carers. April 2002 is the milestone for every general hospital which cares for people with stroke to have plans to introduce a specialised stroke service from 2004.
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NHS (Racism)
Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what measures the Government have taken to tackle racism in the NHS. [24325]
Mr. Hutton: We are fully committed to diversity and equality of opportunity for all health service staff and patients and we are taking vigorous action to achieve this. There is no place for discrimination or harassment in the national health service on grounds of race or ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, disability, religion, or age.
The Improving Working Lives (IWL) Standard establishes targets and measures for promoting real improvements in the working lives of NHS staff. It makes it clear that every member of staff is entitled to work in an organisation which can prove that it is investing in, and improving, diversity and tackling discrimination and harassment.
Activity to achieve this aim is occurring on a number of fronts. We have launched an equalities framework ('The Vital Connection') which incorporates clear requirements for the NHS in promoting equality and introduces a package of indicators, standards and monitoring arrangements to support progress and manage performance as part of human resources performance management. It includes specific measures on race and harassment.
In addition, the 'Positively Diverse' programme is developing the knowledge and capacity of NHS organisations to build and manage a diverse workforce. It provides the process for achieving the equalities-related aspects of IWL and the targets set by the Equalities Framework and supports NHS organisations in meeting the workforce challenges set by the Race Relations (Amendment) Act 2000.
The programme is, at present, being extended to another 200 organisations. Work is also in hand to develop a mentoring and coaching scheme for black and minority ethnic staff; a trainers pack for working with race and racism and a personal work programme for examining individual attitudes towards race and culture. In addition, new guidance, aligned with the 'Zero Tolerance' campaign, on dealing with harassment from service users has been developed and will be launched in March.
Locums
Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) how many locums are working in NHS facilities in England and Wales. [24666]
- (2) how many locums secured substantive employment in the UK in the last 12 months for which figures are available. [24665]
Mr. Hutton: Data for locums are not collected centrally.
European Health Services
Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the European average for health spending as a percentage of GDP was in 1998, excluding the UK, (a) weighted and (b) unweighted. [24431]
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Mr. Hutton: The latest figures for the weighted and the unweighted European average for 1998 excluding the United Kingdom are shown in the table:
| European average (excluding UK) | 1998 |
|---|---|
| Unweighted spend as percentage of Gross Domestic Product | 8.0 |
| Weighted spend as percentage of Gross Domestic Product | 8.8 |
Source:
OECD Health Data 2001
Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans he has to visit European countries to view their health services in 2002. [24685]
Mr. Milburn: I plan to visit Spain, and will visit other countries as appropriate.
NHS Modernisation Agency
Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how often the NHS Modernisation Agency meets; and when the last meeting took place. [24335]
Mr. Hutton: The NHS Modernisation Agency is a directorate of the Department of Health. Its Director, David Fillingham, is a member of the Department's board, which meets fortnightly. The Modernisation Agency's management team meets every month.
Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when he last met the head of the NHS Modernisation Agency. [24334]
Mr. Hutton: My right hon. Friend meets David Fillingham, the director of the Modernisation Agency, on a regular basis. They last met just before the Christmas break.
Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people have been appointed to the NHS Modernisation Agency; and at what remuneration level. [24333]
Mr. Hutton: The National Health Service Modernisation Agency was formed in April 2001 through the merger of six pre-existing teams. Since April, 119 clinicians and managers have been appointed to the agency. Eighty-seven are on fixed term/secondment from the NHS and 19 have been appointed to the civil service. The total staff of the agency is 323 (NHS staff 250, Department of Health employees 73).
Of the total staffing profile of the agency, 13 per cent. are senior manager or clinician level (£50,000 per annum plus), 51 per cent. are programme manager level (£30,000 to £50,000 per annum) and 37 per cent. are support staff (below £30,000 per annum).
Hospital Cleaners
Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what measures are in place to vet hospital cleaners for criminal records. [24298]
Mr. Hutton: All national health service workers are asked to declare criminal convictions as part of the recruitment process. Currently checks are made against police records for all posts involving substantial unsupervised access to children. From 1 March the commencement of the Criminal Records Bureau
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disclosure service will allow checks to be made on a much wider range of posts including hospital cleaners who have access to patients in the normal course of their work.
Children's Homes
Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many (a) local authority and (b) private children's homes have been (i) opened and (ii) closed in each year since 1997 in (A) England and (B) west Sussex. [24306]
Jacqui Smith: Table 1 shows the number of local authority and private children's homes (excluding independent boarding schools) at 31 March 1997 and 31 March 2000. Separate information on the number of homes (a) opened and (b) closed is available only for the years ending 31 March 1999 and 2000. Figures for England are shown in table 2. There was one new registration of a private children's home in west Sussex in 1999 and no closures in either 1999 or 2000.
| England | West Sussex | |
|---|---|---|
| 1997 | ||
| Local authority children's homes | 838 | 13 |
| Private children's homes | 283 | 4 |
| 2000 | ||
| Local authority children's homes | 721 | 11 |
| Private children's homes | 310 | 3 |
Source:
Department of Health statistical return CH1
| Number of: | ||
|---|---|---|
| New registrations | Establishment closures | |
| 1999 | ||
| Local authority children's homes | 5 | 30 |
| Private children's homes | 30 | 10 |
| 2000 | ||
| Local authority children's homes | 10 | 30 |
| Private children's homes | 40 | 10 |
Source:
Department of Health Registration and Inspection Survey
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