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Strategic Health Authorities (Board Papers)
Mr. Lidington: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if members of the public will have the same right of access to the board papers of strategic health authorities as they currently do to the board papers of health authorities. [32296]
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Mr. Hutton: Yes. The provisions relating to open board meetings and access to board papers will be exactly the same for strategic health authorities as currently apply to health authorities.
Mental Health
Mrs. Helen Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people were (a) admitted to hospital for formal detention and (b) informally admitted to hospital in each year since 1997. [32751]
Jacqui Smith: The Department collects and publishes information annually relating to patients detained under the Mental Health Act 1983. The most recent publication "In-patients formally detained in hospitals under the Mental Health Act 1983 and other legislation, England: 1990–1991 to 2000–2001" summarises the position at 31 March 2001.
Table 1 of the publication shows that all formal admissions to national health service facilities, during the period 1 April 1997 to 31 March 2001 increased from 25,415 to 26,707.
Table 7 of the publication shows that the numbers of patients whose legal status changed from informal to formal admission, during the period 1 April 1997 to 31 March, increased from 68,027 to 73,751.
The total number of admissions to NHS hospitals for treatment for mental illness is shown in the table.
| Mental illness | |
|---|---|
| 1997–98 | 203,800 |
| 1998–99 | 188,700 |
| 1999–2000 | 187,600 |
| 2000–01 | 181,500 |
Mrs. Helen Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what guidelines were issued to health authorities and mental health trusts following the House of Lords judgments in the Bournewood case. [32753]
Jacqui Smith: The House of Lords gave its decision in the case of L v. Bournewood Community and Mental Health NHS trust on 25 June 1998. On 10 July 1998 the Department issued a circular (HSC 1999/122) informing the chief executives of national health service trusts and other interested parties of the decision of the House of Lords. It also gave "preliminary guidance" on the practical consequences of the House of Lords decision.
Further guidance was included in the "Code of Practice: Mental Health Act 1983" published in March 1999. The code provides guidance on the admission to hospital and the treatment of patients who are mentally incapable of giving consent.
Autism
Dr. Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what research projects into the causes of autism have been supported by the Government since 1997. [32420]
Jacqui Smith: Details of research projects on autism can be found on the National Research Register (NRR) at www.doh.gov.uk/research.nrr.htm. The NRR includes information on research commissioned through the
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national and regional programmes of national health service research and development and the Department's Policy Research Programme, as well as work supported by NHS Support for Science funding that has been commissioned by the Medical Research Council (MRS) and others. The NRR shows that there are currently 58 on-going and 109 completed projects on autism.
The MRC (which is largely funded by Government) published a detailed review of the epidemiology and causes of autism on 13 December 2001. The report, commissioned by the Department in March 2001, provides a clear, authoritative picture of what scientific research has revealed about the occurrence and causes of autism spectrum disorders. The report encourages the research community to develop high quality research proposals that address the key issues identified in the report.
We are discussing with the MRC the implications of their report for their research programme.
Care Homes
Mr. Andrew Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the cost was of (a) a grade F nursing home place and (b) a residential home place, paid for by each county social services authority in England in (i) 1997, (ii) 1999 and (iii) 2001; and what the county average was. [32706]
Jacqui Smith: The information is not available in the form requested.
Health Bodies (Budgets)
Mr. Andrew Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what guidance he has issued to NHS regional chief executives on (a) the need for health bodies to balance their budgets and (b) advice to give where overspends are anticipated. [32703]
Mr. Hutton: The Department issued "NHS Plan Implementation Programme" which provided guidance on priorities. Within this guidance, a target of financial balance has been set which is managed in year by the Department's regional offices.
Where health bodies require support at year-end this will be provided principally through brokerage from elsewhere in the national health service.
Primary Care Trusts (Overspending)
Mr. Andrew Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether he expects overspends by primary care trusts to be offset by savings by other health bodies. [32704]
Mr. Hutton: By the end of this financial year we expect all primary care trusts to live within their agreed resource limits. Where they require support at the year-end this will be provided principally through brokerage from elsewhere in the national health service. This is normal practice in managing the end of year financial position.
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Smallpox Vaccine
Mr. Robert Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what guidance has been issued to public health professionals in the event of a large scale smallpox outbreak. [33338]
Mr. Hutton [holding answer 5 February 2002]: The Department issued guidance to all health authorities and regional directors of Public health on the procedures to be followed in the event of a deliberate release of smallpox and other biological agents on 17 October 2001. At the same time, guidance for medical and laboratory staff was issued by the Public Health Laboratory Service on 17 October 2001. This is available on the PHLS website: http://www.phls.co.uk/advice/smallpox guidelines.pdf
Mr. Robert Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to his answer of 22 November 2001, Official Report, column 410W, how many smallpox vaccine doses are held by his Department. [33337]
Mr. Hutton [holding answer 5 February 2002]: It is not possible to expand upon the answer given on 22 November 2001, as details concerning quantities of vaccine could aid planning of a bioterrorist attack. A strategic stock of vaccine is held which could be rapidly deployed to contain an outbreak.
Mr. Robert Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to his answer of 22 November 2001, Official Report, column 410W, whether Britain will have a smallpox vaccine stockpile ensuring a dose for every citizen by January 2003. [33333]
Mr. Hutton [holding answer 5 February 2002]: It is not possible to expand upon the answer given on 22 November 2001, as details about vaccine supplies could aid planning of a bioterrorist attack. A strategic stock of smallpox vaccine is already held which could be deployed to contain an outbreak, and this is being kept under review together with the United Kingdom's future requirements for smallpox vaccine.
Mr. Robert Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate he has made of the proportion of the population which has some protective immunity to smallpox. [32973]
Mr. Hutton [holding answer 5 February 2002]: Routine vaccination for smallpox stopped in the United Kingdom and in all countries by 1980 when eradication was declared by the Word Health Organisation. We now have a population which either has never been vaccinated or who were vaccinated 20 or more years ago and who have waning immunity.
A Departmental funded study by the Centre for Applied Microbiology and Research has been looking at how best to estimate the protective immunity within the UK population, as part of a wider study on microbial risk assessment. Recent estimates put the level of immunity at about 18 per cent., though it must be stressed that this is only a crude estimate.
Mr. Robert Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to his answer of 22 November 2001, Official Report, column 410W, how many smallpox vaccine doses would be required to contain a smallpox outbreak in the UK. [33332]
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Mr. Hutton [holding answer 5 February 2002]: The number of smallpox vaccine doses depend on a number of factors including scale of release, number, time to disease recognition, location and site. Such factors and the need to consider different scenarios are integral to the Department's contingency planning.
The use of smallpox vaccine would depend upon the circumstances of the outbreak of the disease and whether or not it could be confined to a particular location.
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