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12 Dec 2002 : Column 496W—continued
Hospital Admissions
Dr. Evan Harris: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list the admissions to NHS hospitals where place of residence is not known in (a) December 1999 to January 2000 and (b) December 2000 to January 2001, broken down by NHS (i) region and (ii) trust. [86026]
Mr. Hutton: Data on the number of admissions to national heath service hospitals where place of residence is not known from December 1999 to January 2000, and from December 2000 to January 2001, broken down by NHS region and trust, have been placed in the Library.
Medical Vacancies
Gregory Barker: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many medical and nursing vacancies there are within the NHS; and what measures are being taken by his Department to fill them. [81933]
Mr. Hutton: The national health service vacancy survey is carried out annually on 30 March. As at 30 March 2002 there were 1,310 vacancies, posts that had been vacant for three months or more, for medical and dental staff and 8,390 vacancies for qualified nurses.
Additional nurses and doctors are being employed as a result of increased throughput from training, improved recruitment and retention and international recruitment. Since 1997 the number of nurses working in the NHS has increased by an estimated 39,500 and the number of consultants by 4,980.
Mental Health Services
Mr. Paul Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what proportion of mental health service money will be allocated to (a) joint working between adult and children mental health services, (b) mental health professionals supporting other professionals working with children and (c) supporting youth offending teams between adult and children mental health services in each of the next three years. [86252]
Jacqui Smith: Guidance to health and local authorities on the further development of child and adolescent mental health services and the use of additional central funding over the period 2003–04 to 2005–06 is expected to be issued shortly. Within the terms of this guidance it will be for the local agencies to decide how their budgets are allocated.
Mental Health Services (Children)
Mr. Paul Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much has been spent since 1997 on mental health services for children, broken down into budget headings. [86461]
Jacqui Smith: This information is not collected centrally. However, our estimate for likely expenditure on mental health services for children in 2001–02 is in the table.
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We recognise that much still needs to be done to improve child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS). On 16 October, my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State announced that CAMHS would receive an additional #140 million over the next three years through increased grants to local authorities. This will help build capacity, improve access and, together with new national health service investment, help deliver a comprehensive CAMHS for every area.
| # million | |
|---|---|
| HCHS | 289 |
| PSS | 269 |
| Total | 558 |
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. Paul Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what proportion of local social services departments have agreed a joint strategy for allocating mental health grants with local child and adolescent mental health services; and if he will make a statement. [86469]
Jacqui Smith: Our information is that all health authorities and local authority social services departments have complied with the statutory requirement (notified in a Department of Health circular of May 1999) to work together to produce joint three-year development strategies to deliver the child and adolescent mental health services objectives set out in national priorities guidance 1999–2002. Targeted central funding of #85 million was provided to help support these developments, including #35 million in the form of grants to local authorities.
Mr. Paul Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what proportion of the budget for child and adolescent mental health services in the financial years 2000–02 was spent on mental health services for children. [86471]
Jacqui Smith: Budgetary information on local child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS) is not collected centrally.
Targeted funding for health and local authorities provided centrally to help support their joint CAMHS development strategies is expected to be spent for the purpose for which it is allocated.
Neurological Conditions
Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate he has made of the number of people in the UK with a neurological condition. [86882]
Jacqui Smith: We have made no estimate of the number of people in the United Kingdom with a neurological condition. The recent neurological alliance publication, Levelling Up, estimates that around 2,850,000 people have a neurological condition of one kind or another, with another 8,000,000 suffering from migraine.
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In February 2001, my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State announced the national service framework (NSF) for long-term conditions, that will have a particular focus on the needs of people with neurological conditions and brain and spinal injury. Current plans are to publish the NSF in 2004 with a 10-year implementation period from 2005.
NHSU
Dr. Fox : To ask the Secretary of State for Health in what year he expects NHSU to obtain its Royal Charter. [84035]
Mr. Hutton: The National Health Service University (NHSU) aims to become an awarding and accrediting institution in its own right, by meeting the standards required to become a university.
On 21 November 2002, NHSU launched its development plan entitled Learning for Everyone. This document sets out the vision for the university and is the basis for an extensive three month consultation exercise with the NHS and its partners. The responses and issues raised will be taken into account when drawing up the NHSU strategic and business plan in April 2003.
To achieve university status, NHSU will need to meet the rigorous standards which apply to the granting of such a status. It will work towards those standards as it develops and will only be able to submit the necessary application when it is confident that they are met.
NHSU have obtained agreement in principle with the Higher Education Funding Council to set up a working group, with members drawn from Higher Education Funding Council, NHSU, the Department for Education and Skills, the Department of Health and the Quality Assurance Agency. This group will look at the appropriate processes and mechanisms for achieving status, to offer advice and to draw up an action plan by November 2003 setting out the step to be taken.
Patient Records
Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps his Department has taken to tackle the threat of computer viruses to patient records. [85777]
Mr. Lammy: National health service organisations are required to implement and maintain adequate local anti-virus protection as a condition of their connection to the NHS network. In addition, relevant guidance for the selection, deployment and management of anti-virus products has been provided to NHS organisations and is regularly refreshed to take account of new threats.
Personal Social Services
Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will set out the (a) efficiency gains and (b) other value for money gains of personal social services expenditure that have been achieved, broken down by region, in each of the last three years. [86880]
Jacqui Smith : Information provided by councils during in-year monitoring suggests that, for social services in England, the estimated efficiency and value for money gain was 2.1 per cent, for 1999–2000, 2.3 per cent, for 2000–01 and 2.5 per cent, for 2001–02.
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Taken over these three years, the total estimated efficiency and value for money gain was 7.1 per cent., virtually meeting the cumulative three year target of 7.2 per cent, for those years. The table shows these figures broken down using the current regional boundaries. The target is national and does not apply to individual regions or councils. Efficiency gains and value for money gains are not separately identified. Information for 2001–02 is not yet available.
| Estimated efficiency and value for money gains | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Region | 1999–2000 | 2000–01 | 2001–02 | Total for three years |
| England | 2.1 | 2.3 | 2.5 | 7.1 |
| North West | 2.2 | 3.0 | 3.3 | 8.8 |
| North East | 2.3 | 2.6 | 2.4 | 7.4 |
| Yorkshire and Humber | 1.8 | 2.0 | 2.4 | 6.3 |
| East Midlands | 1.9 | 2.4 | 2.8 | 7.3 |
| West Midlands | 2.1 | 2.1 | 2.1 | 6.4 |
| East England | 1.8 | 2.4 | 2.8 | 7.2 |
| London | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.2 | 6.3 |
| South East | 2.4 | 2.0 | 2.3 | 6.8 |
| South West | 2.0 | 2.7 | 2.5 | 7.4 |
Note:
Some councils are excluded where they did not provide data of sufficient quality.
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