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Cycle of Abuse
Mrs. Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what research his Department has conducted to examine the link between abused children and their potential to become abusive adults. [62717]
Jacqui Smith [holding answer 19 June 2002]: Between 1992 and 1996, the Department's policy research programme (PRP) funded a study by Professor David Skuse at the Institute of Child Health with the title: "The transition from sexually abused to abuser: a preliminary enquiry", at a total cost of £346,000.
Subsequently, from 1996 to 2000, the Department provided funding for Professor Skuse to undertake a study entitled "A prospective study of the onset of sexually
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abusive behaviour in boys who were sexually abused in early childhood: validation of risk index". This study cost £566,000.
Two further studies of relevance were each funded by one of the Department's regional offices: "A survey of the psychological effects of child abuse and the resulting medical/other agency intervention of general health and personal benefits as adults (pilot study)" by Michelle Robson, from the Hull and East Yorkshire NHS Trust, which was funded from December 1999 to April 2000, and a study on "Emotional and behavioural problems in children of women who experienced maltreatment in childhood", by Professor J. W. Hill, at the Royal Liverpool Children's Hospital NHS Trust, funded from February 1999 to June 2000.
Epilepsy
Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans he has to make more funds available to ring fence funds to prevent sudden deaths in epilepsy. [62987]
Jacqui Smith [holding answer 19 June 2002]: Local health and social care organisations are responsible for planning and providing services for people with epilepsy. The recently announced budget settlements for the national health service (representing an annual average increase of 7.6 per cent. above inflation over the five years 2003–04 to 2007–08) and personal social services (PSS) (representing an annual average increase of 6.0 per cent. above inflation over the three years 2003–04 to 2005–06), will provide the investment needed to support services which best meet patients' and users' needs.
The Department has recently welcomed the publication of the Government funded national sentinel audit of epilepsy-related death. The audit looked at investigations into epilepsy deaths, care provided prior to death and contact with bereaved families. The Department has given a commitment to consider the recommendations of the audit and develop an action plan by September 2002 to try to improve epilepsy services and reduce the number of preventable deaths from epilepsy.
The Department is also undertaking a range of initiatives to improve services for the care and management of people with epilepsy. For example, we have:
- Provided funding to the Joint Epilepsy Council (JEC) to develop a "National Statement of Good Practice for the Treatment and Care of People who have Epilepsy", which was published in May 2002. The statement makes a series of recommendations for good
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- quality epilepsy services. It is intended to facilitate commissioning and will be of use to NHS purchasers, providers and service users.
Asked the National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE) to develop a clinical guideline (due in summer 2004) for the diagnosis, management and treatment of epilepsy to help address widespread variations in clinical practice and contribute to the improvement of services. This will be supported by a technology appraisal (due autumn 2003) of the clinical and cost-effectiveness of new anti-epileptic drugs in children and adults, to help promote appropriate uptake and equitable access.
Announced that the national service framework (NSF) for long term conditions is expected to develop standards of care for specific neurological conditions, including epilepsy. The NSF is expected to be published in 2004. Implementation is expected to start from 2005.
Developed the expert patients programme, which aims to provide training in self-management skills for people with long term chronic conditions. The first pilot phase will include people with epilepsy.
Provided funding to the national society for epilepsy for its living well project. The project aims to promote independent living by providing locally based short-term courses for people with epilepsy to develop self-help and self-management techniques.
Care Records
Mr. Pickthall: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if, under standard 16 of the National Care Standards, it is compulsory for receivers of care to complete daily records which can be accessed by other people; and what mechanisms are in place to accommodate those who, on grounds of privacy, refuse to do so. [63629]
Jacqui Smith [holding answer 26 June 2002]: Standard 16 of the domiciliary care national minimum standards (consultation version) states that it is not compulsory for the service user to keep records. The requirement is for the service provider to keep records.
Drug Addicts
Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the waiting time is for drug addicts for residential rehabilitation; and what he expects the waiting time to be in two years. [63335]
Ms Blears [holding answer 20 June 2002]: Estimated figures for waiting times for residential rehabilitation from referral to initial consultation are shown in the table. Figures for other treatment modalities are provided as a comparison. These figures were compiled to assist the national treatment agency in setting targets for reducing overall waiting times and are the latest currently available. Figures for 2000–01 are currently being collated and will be available shortly.
The targets for treatment services are shown in the table. This information relates to the local authority area, not for each individual agency.
| Average baseline waiting time (weeks) | Maximum acceptable length of wait (weeks) | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Treatment modality | 1999–2000 | 2002–03 | 2003–04 |
| In-patient detoxification | 6.1 | 4 | 2 |
| Community prescribing—specialist | 10.2 | 6 | 3 |
| Community prescribing—GPs | 5 | 4 | 2 |
| Structured counselling | 4 | 4 | 2 |
| Structured day care programme | 3.3 | 4 | 3 |
| Residential rehabilitation | 5.4 | 4 | 3 |
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The information that is available to the Government is the longest wait for different modalities of treatment in each drug action teams area. DAT reported these figures in December 2001 as part of the routine planning process for treatment at local level. The national treatment agency will publish more comprehensive data later this year.
Care Home Patients
Mr. Hinchliffe: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many residents aged over 65 were in (a) local
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authority, (b) independent residential, (c) independent nursing and (d) independent dual registered homes (i) in total and (ii) as a percentage of the population aged over 65 in each of the last 10 years. [64288]
Jacqui Smith [holding answer 26 June 2002]: Information on the number of residents in care homes is not readily available. The available information is provided in Tables 1 and 2.
| Total | Local authority staffed homes | Independent residential care homes(28) | Independent nursing care homes(29) | Independent dual registered care homes(30) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1995(31) | 407,680 | 62,440 | 176,560 | 155,210 | 13,460 |
| 1996(31) | 412,450 | 60,160 | 176,950 | 158,750 | 16,600 |
| 1997(31) | 415,060 | 54,680 | 183,390 | 153,440 | 23,540 |
| 1998 | 428,230 | 52,730 | 186,730 | 159,620 | 29,140 |
| 1999 | 418,040 | 49,110 | 185,270 | 152,940 | 30,710 |
| 2000 | 412,450 | 45,210 | 183,250 | 149,020 | 34,970 |
| 2001 | 401,980 | 41,830 | 182,470 | 141,920 | 35,770 |
(27) Includes places for older mentally infirm people.
(28) Includes residential care beds in small homes (less than four places).
(29) Excludes registered nursing beds in private hospitals and clinics.
(30) Registered residential care places only.
(31) Information on nursing beds relates to registered beds during the period 1 October (of the previous year) to 31 March each year.
Source:
Department of Health's annual returns
| Total | Local authority staffed homes | Independent residential care homes(32) | Independent nursing care homes(33) | Independent dual registered care homes(34) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1995(35) | 5.3 | 0.8 | 2.3 | 2.0 | 0.2 |
| 1996 | 5.3 | 0.8 | 2.3 | 2.0 | 0.2 |
| 1997 | 5.3 | 0.7 | 2.4 | 2.0 | 0.3 |
| 1998 | 5.5 | 0.7 | 2.4 | 2.1 | 0.4 |
| 1999 | 5.4 | 0.6 | 2.4 | 2.0 | 0.4 |
| 2000 | 5.3 | 0.6 | 2.3 | 1.9 | 0.4 |
| 2001 | 5.1 | 0.5 | 2.3 | 1.8 | 0.5 |
(32) Includes residential care beds in small homes (less than four places).
(33) Excludes registered nursing beds in private hospitals and clinics.
(34) Registered residential care places only.
(35) Information on nursing beds relates to registered beds during the period 1 October (of the previous year) to 31 March each year.
Source:
Department of Health's annual returns