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23 Jan 2003 : Column 477W—continued
Redundancy Payments
Mr. Burns: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the (a) total and (b) average cost to the NHS was, over the last 12 months for which figures are available, of redundancy payments to managers and administrators in (i) primary care trusts and (ii) strategic health authorities. [91554]
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Mr. Hutton [holding answer 21 January 2003]: Information on national health service redundancy payments is not collected centrally.
Specialised Health Services
Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will place in the Library a copy of the Department's survey on Arrangements for Commissioning Specialised Services in 2002–03. [82781]
Mr. Hutton [holding answer 25 November 2002]: The survey on arrangements for commissioning specialised services in 2002–03 was an internal exercise designed to inform policy. However, a summary of the survey will be made public, and will be included in the forthcoming report on commissioning arrangements for specialised services consultation.
Terrorism
Patrick Mercer: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many protective suits are available to NHS staff and ambulance crews in the event of a terrorist attack using chemical and biological agents. [88385]
Mr. Hutton: The Department has funded the provision of 360 mobile decontamination units and 7,250 national specification personal protective equipment (PPE) suits, which allow the ambulance service and accident and emergency departments to treat people contaminated with chemical, biological, radio-active and nuclear material.
Training Support Funds
Tony Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what measures are being taken to ensure the take-up of increases in training support funds resourced from the Department of Health to local authorities; and how these funds are being targeted towards the voluntary sector. [92883]
Jacqui Smith: We are establishing two new ring-fenced grants linked to training for 2003–04—the National Training Strategy Grant and the Human Resources Development Strategy Grant. These were announced in the Local Authority Social Services Letter LASSL(2002)11. We will shortly consult with representatives of the statutory, private and voluntary sectors on the conditions and allocations for both grants.
The National Training Strategy Grant is to be used to support the training of social care staff in all sectors, with the majority of the fund being spent on developing National Vocational Qualifications in social care.
The Human Resources Development Strategy Grant will be used to support social care employers in all sectors as they develop the social care work force.
Treatment Targets
Dr. Evan Harris: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what methods are used to measure progress against the targets for increases in capacity of the equivalent of treatment for (a) 100,000 patients in
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2002–03 and (b) 200,000 in 2003–04; and what assessment he has made of progress towards these targets. [85343]
Mr. Hutton: The priorities and planning framework for 2002–03 required the national health service to make sure that plans were in place to achieve the major objectives of the NHS Plan. Data collection systems to monitor delivery are in place and in the first two quarters of 2002–03, elective activity increased by 4.9 per cent. compared to the same period the previous year. For future years Improvement, Expansion and Reform: The Next 3 Years for 2003–06, outlines the delivery programme and the planning requirement. Delivery of these programmes will be detailed in local delivery plans.
West Midlands Hospitals (Military Treatment)
Mr. Luff: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate he has made of the number of armed forces personnel likely to be treated in hospitals in the West Midlands (South) Strategic Health Authority area in the event of conflict in Iraq; and what assessment he has made of the consequences for the continuing provision of health services to the resident population. [90346]
Mr. Hutton: No specific estimate of the possible impact on individual strategic health authorities has been made. The national health service has a responsibility to ensure that any military casualties are appropriately treated and cared for. If the need does arise, the service will meet this obligation in full while continuing to serve the local population.
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HOME DEPARTMENT
Criminal Records Checks
Mr. Burstow : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what representations his Department has received from (a) NGOs, (b) social services, (c) members of the public and (d) hon. Members regarding the financial implications for organisations of delays in Criminal Record Bureau checks. [91202]
Hilary Benn: The Criminal Records Bureau has received a number of communications from members of the public, employers, Registered Bodies and other organisations drawing attention to this matter, some of which have had the support of Members of Parliament. Some have sought compensation for individual applicants and others for employers.
Prison Suicides
Mrs. Brooke: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) what measures are being taken by his Department to ensure a decrease in the numbers of suicides by inmates of prisons in England and Wales; [90492]
- (2) how many suicides by inmates of prisons in England and Wales there were for the period January 1992 to December 2002 broken down by prison; and what estimate he has made of the numbers of suicides for the period January 2003 to December 2013. [90491]
Hilary Benn: The following table covers the 762 apparently self-inflicted deaths between 1 January 1992 and 31 December 2002.
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There are no forward estimates of the number of prisoner self-inflicted deaths. The Government aim to reduce suicides in prisons as in the community generally. The Department of Health's National Suicide Prevention Strategy for England, which aims to support the 'Saving Lives: Our Healthier Nation' target of reducing the death rate from suicide in the community by at least 20 per cent. by 2010, includes a target for the Prison Service of such a reduction (to 112.8 self-inflicted deaths per 100,000 prisoners) by April 2004.
The Prison Service recognises that it has a duty of care for all prisoners. This is reflected in current policy and procedures in respect of identifying prisoners at risk of suicide and self-harm, and providing the subsequent care and support for such prisoners, and support for the staff who care for them. Prison Service Instructions make clear that it is the responsibility of all staff to initiate the self-harm at-risk procedures whenever they believe a prisoner is at such risk. These procedures ensure those caring for the at-risk prisoner consider the appropriate level of supervision, location and support for that prisoner. Each at-risk prisoner has an individual support plan drawn up by a multi-disciplinary review team, which will also involve the prisoner themselves.
The general prison population contains a large number of prisoners with a combination of psychiatric disorders, alcohol and drug dependency, family background and relationship problems, histories of self-harm and previous abuse, all of which raise their risk of suicide. Good care and support from staff saves many lives but such instances go largely unreported.
The Prison Service's approach, in close partnership with outside organisations such as the Samaritans, is to identify and better support those who seem at greatest risk and focus on staff/prisoner relationships and the physical environment. The Prison Service's suicide prevention and self-harm reduction programme
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includes a series of inter-related projects to improve pre-reception, reception and induction arrangements; inter-agency information exchange; prisoner care; detoxification; prisoner peer support, and the learning from investigations into deaths in custody.
Piloting of these projects is focused on six establishments—Wandsworth, Feltham, Eastwood Park, Leeds, Winchester and Birmingham—although others are involved in aspects of the work. An investment of £21.69 million over the three year programme from April 2001 is allowing physical improvements to be made at these six sites, for example to reception and induction areas, and through the installation of more first night centres, safer cells, crisis suites and gated cells that enable staff to watch at-risk prisoners closely. The programme will be subject to an independent quantitative and qualitative evaluation.
Wing staff will be increasingly supported in the work by in-reach mental health teams and by the establishment where possible of dedicated drug detoxification units. Between August 2001 and June 2002 new health care screening procedures have been piloted at six adult male remand prisons (Leeds, Wandsworth, Holme House, Liverpool, Manchester and Durham) two female remand prisons (Eastwood Park and New Hall) and two young offender institutions (Feltham and Glen Parva). The two female prisons include both adults and women aged 16–21 years. An evaluation of the pilot project supported implementation of the new reception screening arrangements across the estate, and a rolling programme is planned commencing in April 2003.
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