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16 Oct 2002 : Column 887W—continued
HEALTH
Generic Medicine Prices
Mr. Gardiner: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on the statutory maximum price scheme covering generic medicines supplied for use in the NHS in primary care. [74941]
Mr. Lammy: We are today announcing a review of the maximum price scheme. A copy of the consultation letter setting out the Government's proposals and timetable to roll the scheme forward, unchanged, has been placed in the Library.
Elective Hospital Spells
Dr. Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the activity levels were in the quarter to (a) March 2000 and (b) March 2001 for (i) general and (ii) acute elective hospital spells. [61440]
Mr. Hutton: There is no distinction made between general and acute elective hospital spells. All elective spells are acute other than geriatric medicine. The figures requested are available on the Department's website at www.doh.gsi.gov.uk/hes.
Reservists
Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the impact upon the NHS of the call-up of military reservists during the Gulf War; and how many (a) nurses, (b) GPs, (c) medical consultants and (d) other health care professionals were subject to call-up as reservists. [74648]
Mr. Hutton: The Department has not made an assessment of the impact on the National Health Service of the call up of military reservists during the Gulf War, and did not collect information about the number of reservists who were subject to call up.
Delayed Discharge and Energy Readmission
Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what level the fines for (a) social services and (b) NHS trusts will be for (i) emergency readmissions and (ii) delayed discharges; and if he will make a statement. [74535]
Jacqui Smith: The consultation on reimbursement for delayed discharge closed on the 18 September. In the consultation document it was suggested that the reimbursement for delayed discharge should be #120 per day in London and the South East and #100 throughout the rest of England. The consultation document also suggested that there should be no charge for emergency readmissions since these would be treated as part of the
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same episode of care under the new financial flows regime due to be implemented from 2004. If a National Health Service trust discharges a patient too early, they will face the risk that the patient will be readmitted, and the hospital will face the additional costs it incurs for this readmission.
Criminal Records Bureau
Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the delays in Criminal Records Bureau checks on (a) social workers, (b) other social care staff and (c) voluntary health organisations working with children; and if he will make a statement. [74537]
Jacqui Smith: I am aware of the current delays in processing checks by the Criminal Records Bureau (CRB). The Department is working across government with the CRB to minimise the effect this has on workers in all sectors who require checks.
Ethical Foreign Nurse Recruitment
Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will estimate the number and percentage of (a) recruitment agencies and (b) overseas nurses that are part of the ethical nurse recruitment code of practice. [74321]
Mr. Hutton: The Department has written to 92 agencies informing them that it is compiling a list of recruitment agencies. So far 30 recruitment agencies have been placed on this list who are complying with the code of practice.
All nurses from abroad should be recruited into the National Health Service in accordance with the code of practice.
Mental Health
Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to his answer of 20 May 2002, Official Report, column 148W, on mental health, if he will list the additional financial resources that are planned for the appointment of mental health workers for the next year; and if he will make a statement. [74712]
Jacqui Smith: Decisions on funding for mental health workers for next year will be made later in the Autumn as part of the work on primary care trusts allocations and central budgets.
Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many graduate primary care mental health workers trained in brief therapy techniques, as outlined in the NHS Plan have been employed in each of the last years; and if he will make a statement. [74541]
Jacqui Smith: The NHS Plan set out that one thousand new graduate primary care mental health workers trained in brief therapy techniques of proven effectiveness will be employed by 2004 to help general practitioners manage and treat common mental health problems in all age groups, including children. Funds to support the appointment of 1000 such staff will be allocated in 2003–4. Central information on the number appointed is not yet available. This year, #2.5 million has been made available to establish new training
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programmes to support the new workers when they are employed. This initiative is being led by Trent workforce development confederation and information about the process is due to be placed on the web site very shortly.
Care Staff
Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many residential child care staff were qualified at GNVQ level 3 by March; and how many still needed to be qualified to NVQ level 3 as per the requirement set out in The Government's Objectives for Children's Social Services. [74531]
Jacqui Smith: The application forms for the training support programme grant that local councils completed in April 2002 provide the following data about residential child care staff and national vocational qualifications (NVQs):
| Number who have achieved their NVQ Level 3 | 2,020 |
| Number who need to obtain their NVQ Level 3 | 7,592 |
However, the above figures do not include all the residential child care staff in the voluntary and private sectors as we do not collect data from these sectors.
The National Minimum Standards for Children's Homes includes a standard stating that ''A minimum ratio of 80 per cent. of all care staff have completed their Level 3 in caring for children and young people NVQ by January 2005.'' This standard will be monitored by the National Care Standards Commission during their inspections of all children's homes.
Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many employees were working in (a) social services departments, (b) residential care, (c) domiciliary care and (d) intermediate care in each of the last five years. [74533]
Jacqui Smith: Data on the numbers of employees working on intermediate care services, and the numbers of staff working in the independent care sector are not available centrally. The whole-time equivalent numbers of staff employed by local authorities in social services departments, residential care services and domiciliary care services between 1997 and 2001 (the latest date for which data are available) are shown in the table.
| Year (as at 30 September) | Social Services Departments | Residential Care | Domiciliary Services |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1997 | 229,400 | 65,400 | 53,600 |
| 1998 | 223,500 | 62,100 | 50,500 |
| 1999 | 221,700 | 59,200 | 47,200 |
| 2000 | 217,500 | 56,600 | 42,900 |
| 2001 | 212,000 | 53,800 | 40,200 |
Source:
Form SSDS001.
Parliamentary Questions
Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many statistical tables requested by hon. Members in parliamentary questions have been placed in the Library and not been published in the Official Report in the last five years. [74545]
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Mr. Lammy: The information requested could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.
The Department places in the Library any attachments to answers, such as statistical tables or published documents, whose excessive length or complicated format precludes their inclusion in the Official Report. This is standard practice across Government Departments. Such documents are also routinely made available on the Department's website wherever possible.
Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services
Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many CAMHS in-patient beds were provided in each year since 1997 (a) in total, (b) in England and (c) in each local authority; how many are planned to be provided in the next two years; and if he will make a satement. [74315]
Jacqui Smith: This information is not collected centrally in the form requested. The table gives the average daily number of available beds in wards classified as children: mental illness, in National Health Service trusts in England for the years 1996–97 to 2000–01.
The provision of child and adolescent mental health in-patient facilities is being considered as part of the development of the new children's national service framework, on which work is proceeding. We will be increasing the number of secure adolescent mental health beds by 24 in a new unit in Birmingham by autumn 2003.
| Year | Mental Illness |
|---|---|
| 1996–97 | 538 |
| 1997–98 | 522 |
| 1998–99 | 538 |
| 1999–00(1) | 482 |
| 2000–01 | 531 |
Note:
Beds in wards classified as children's mental illness do not cover all the child and adolescent mental health services provision available. Some facilities designed for older adolescents may be included in ''other ages'' mental illness.
Source:
Department of Health form KH03
(1) 1999–00 data were incomplete.
Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the (a) amount and (b) proportion of mental health expenditure has been on child and adolescent services for each of the last five years; and if he will make a statement on his assessment of the adequacy of this expenditure. [74316]
Jacqui Smith: The information requested is not available for the last five years. However our estimate for the likely mental health expenditure in 2001–02 and the proportion spent on child and adolescent mental health services is shown in the table, with an estimate on the personal social services (PSS) expenditure.
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We appreciate that child and adolescent mental health services still need to be developed further. The work being taken forward by the child and adolescent mental health external working group of the children's national service framework will do much to inform our future expenditure.
| CAMHS | Adult MH | Elderly | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| HCHS | 289 | 3171 | 194 | 3654 |
| (8%) | (87%) | (5%) | (100%) | |
| PSS | 269 | 678 | 376 | 1323 |
| (20%) | (51%) | (28%) | (100%) | |
| Total | 558 | 3849 | 570 | 4977 |
| (11%) | (77%) | (12%) | (100%) |
Notes:
1. Hospital and Community Health Services (HCHS) costs exclude the costs of primary care and drugs.
2. Personal Social Services (PSS) costs include Children's Social Services (CSS) costs where appropriate.
Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to his answer of 15 July 2002, Official Report, column 129W, on CAMHS innovation projects, what the publication date is for the overview report of the CAMHS innovation plan; and if he will make a statement on its launch at the national conference. [74610]
Jacqui Smith: The report will be published on 4 December, the day of the National Conference.
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