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Free Continuing Care
Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what guidance he intends to issue to the new strategic health authorities about eligibility criteria for free continuing care from April 2002. [31152]
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Jacqui Smith: It is not our intention to issue new guidance to strategic health authorities regarding eligibility criteria for free continuing care. The guidance issued in June 2001 (Health Service Circular 2001/015:Local Authority Circular (2001)18) reflects the legal position outlined in ex-parte Coughlan. The legal position has not changed since the guidance was issued.
It was made clear at paragraph 15 of the guidance that as health authorities are replaced by SHAs they should align their inherited continuing and ensure only one set of criteria exist across each SHA.
Lost/Stolen Property
Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list those items valued at more than £50 which have been stolen or lost from his Department in each of the last four years. [27990]
Ms Blears: The information requested is in the table:
| Item(s) | Number | Total amount (£) |
|---|---|---|
| Nokia 8210 mobile phone | 1 | 241.70 |
| Texas Instruments Extensa Series Laptop | 1 | 1,500.00 |
| Compaq E500 Laptop | 1 | 1,761.20 |
| Motorola Pager | 1 | 146.88 |
| 64 Mb DIMM memory chip | 1 | 61.60 |
| Compaq Armada M700 Laptop | 1 | 2,321.80 |
| Siemens C35 mobile phone | 1 | 156.66 |
| Scriptor Pager | 1 | 176.25 |
| Compaq Armada 1110 Laptop | 1 | 2,321.80 |
| Compaq Armada Laptop | 1 | 1,915.25 |
| Compaq M700 Laptop | 1 | 2,321.80 |
| Compaq Spacesaver 866 base unit. keyboard and mouse | 3 | 821.33 |
| Palm Pilot 3 | 1 | 158.63 |
| Compaq Armada M700 Laptop | 1 | 2,184.33 |
| Compaq Laptop | 1 | 2,184.33 |
| Compaq Armada 1750 Laptop | 1 | 2,184.33 |
| Compaq Armada 1592 Laptop | 1 | 1,684.33 |
| Nokia Mobile phone | 1 | 115.15 |
| Psion MX5 and Vodaphone mobile phone | 2 | 165.68 |
| HP Colour Laser jet 4550 Printer | 1 | 1,800.10 |
| Compaq Armada M700 Laptop | 1 | 1,995.15 |
| Compaq Laptop | 1 | 1,995.15 |
| Siemens C35i mobile phone | 1 | 179.66 |
| Compaq Laptop and Psion 5MX series | 2 | 2,367.05 |
| Compaq Armada E500 Laptop | 1 | 1,835.94 |
| Compaq Armada E500 Laptop | 1 | 1,835.94 |
| Compaq Armada 1120 Laptop | 1 | 1,835.94 |
| Pager | 1 | 176.25 |
| Nokia mobile phone | 1 | 50.00 |
| Siemens Lifebook Laptop | 1 | 1,630.20 |
| Total to date for 2001–02 | 34 | 38,124.43 |
Bed Blocking
Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the problem of bed blocking in hospitals located in the Buckinghamshire health authority. [30055]
Jacqui Smith: On 9 October 2001 we announced additional funding of £300 million to tackle delayed discharges this year and next. Buckinghamshire was recognised as a local authority in need of extra help and was allocated £713,000 of additional funding this year and will receive £1.5 million in 2002–03.
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Quarterly information for Buckinghamshire health authority, on delayed discharges for patients aged 75 and over has been placed in the House of Commons Library.
Speech Therapy (Autism)
Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what measures he is taking to increase the provision of speech therapists dealing with children and adults with autism; [31884]
- (2) whether he will consider introducing ring-fenced funding to promote the greater provision of speech therapists dealing with people with autism; [31885]
(3) how many speech therapists are available to deal with people with autism in each health authority in England and Wales. [31886]
Mr. Hutton: Speech and language therapists have a broad range of responsibilities and autism is one of the many important disorders with which they can help. The proportion of their time devoted to treatment of people with autism varies according to local needs assessment. So it is not possible to quantify the amount of speech and language therapy that is used to specifically treat autism. As at September 2000 there were 5,343 (headcount) speech and language therapists working in the national health service with 4,070 whole-time equivalents.
Between 1997 and 2000 the number of speech and language therapists working in the national health service has increased by 560 (11 per cent.) and the number of training places available for students has increased by over a hundred since 1998. There will be further increases in the number of students entering training as a result of the NHS Plan commitment to provide 4,450 more training places each year for therapists and other health professionals by 2004. The increased investment in training, work to make the national health service a better employer and investment in return to practice initiatives will result in a continuing increase in the number of speech therapists available to work in the national health service.
It is for health authorities in partnership with primary care groups/trusts and other local stakeholders to determine how best to use their funds to meet national and local priorities for improving health, tackling health inequalities and modernising services.
Complaints Investigation
Jeff Ennis: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when he will announce the names of the chair and panel members for the independent investigation into the handling of complaints against Dr. Kerr and Mr. Haslam. [33722]
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Mr. Milburn: I am pleased to announce that Mr. Nigel Pleming QC has agreed to chair this investigation. Mr. Pleming has considerable experience in health law, including mental health law.
I am also pleased to announce that Ms Ruth Lesirge and Ms Ros Alstead have agreed to be Panel members. Ms Lesirge is Chief Executive of the Mental Health Foundation. Ms Alstead is Director of Quality and Operations and Nursing at the South Birmingham Mental Health NHS Trust.
Mr. Pleming and the inquiry panel will start work shortly. They will be holding early meetings with those involved to discuss the issues to be covered in the investigation.
Refurbishment
Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what his estimate is of the cost of buildings refurbishment carried out by his Department in each of the last four years. [27962]
Ms Blears: The estimate of the cost of buildings refurbishment carried out by the Department, its executive agencies and executive non-departmental public bodies in each of the past four complete financial years is shown in the table.
| £000 | |
|---|---|
| 1997–98 | 2,290 |
| 1998–99 | 2,023 |
| 1999–2000 | 5,778 |
| 2000–01 | 5,002 |
This does not include refurbishment work carried out within the national health service nor the cost of fitting out of any new properties prior to occupation.
Emergency Calls
Mr. Andrew Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the average number of (a) emergency and (b) non-emergency calls per year handled by each ambulance service was in (i) England, (ii) South-west England and (iii) South-east England; and what is the number per thousand population in the last 12 months. [28227]
Ms Blears: Information for all ambulance national health service trusts, by regional office area, about the number of emergency calls received in 2000–01 that resulted in an emergency response arriving at the scene of the incident is shown in the table. The rate per thousand population is also included. Information about non- emergency calls is not available in the form requested.
(27) Excludes duplicate calls to the same incidents
(28) Part of a community trust
Source:
Office for National Statistics mid-year population estimates for 2000
1 Feb 2002 : Column 627W
Information about non-emergency patient journeys and other requests for transport, together with more detailed information about response times to Government targets for all NHS ambulance trusts are contained in the Department of Health Statistical Bulletin "Ambulance Services, England 2000–01". A copy is in the Library and available on the Department's website at www.doh.gov.uk/ public/sb0115.htm.
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