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30 Jun 2003 : Column 136W—continued
Care Homes
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what discussions he has had with Hampshire county council about the funding of their plans to provide residential and nursing home beds for the elderly. [122107]
Ms Rosie Winterton: The Hampshire county council and Hampshire and Isle of Wight strategic health authority have developed the Hampshire nursing homes investment strategy. The investment strategy has two primary objectives—to stabilise the nursing home market, and provide the necessary care home capacity to meet the future needs of the population.
The county council and the strategic health authority have worked in close co-operation with the Department to agree the funding necessary to support wide ranging improvements in services for older people. The expansion of national health service beds is part of that agreement and full implementation of the strategy will be met by a partnership investment of £60 million. The first stage of the development will be implemented from December 2004.
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Health which local authorities have applied to the Department for capital resources to enable them to provide additional nursing and residential home beds for the elderly; and what the status is of these applications. [122109]
Dr. Ladyman: The Department has received no formal applications from local authorities for capital resources to provide additional nursing and residential home beds for the elderly.
The Department has put aside £40 million to support a joint project developed by Hampshire and Isle of Wight strategic health authority and Hampshire county council. This project would provide 500 nursing home places in the local authority, to help cope with patients inappropriately placed in hospital beds.
Over the last four years the Department of Health has approved outline business cases from 10 local authorities for private finance initiative projects for older people. These projects provide a mix of rehabilitation, respite, dementia, nursing and intermediate care beds. Three of these projects are operational and the rest are in procurement.
| Location | Description |
|---|---|
| Coventry | A joint housing and social services project to provide housing with care schemes and specialist dementia schemes. |
| Ealing | Resource centres providing rehabilitation and respite beds, includes specialist care for dementia and Asian elders. |
| Greenwich | Neighbourhood Resource Centres providing residential, dual registered nursing bed and day care places for dementia care and care of ethnic minority elders. |
| Hammersmith and Fulham | A joint housing and social services project providing extra care housing and resource centres. |
| Harrow | Homes providing residential and respite care beds, including care for Asian elders. |
| Kent (two schemes) | Integrated health and social services providing rehabilitation and intermediate care beds, day care places and a range of community care services plus base for multi-disciplinary teams. |
| Northamptonshire | Specialist care centres providing rehabilitative and respite beds, day care places including dementia care. |
| Richmond | Homes providing residential and respite beds and dual-registered nursing bed. |
| Surrey | Homes providing residential beds. |
| Westminster | Centre providing nursing beds and residential beds for frail elderly and early onset dementia. |
30 Jun 2003 : Column 137W
CJD
Mr. Gordon Prentice: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what special conditions attach to the burial of persons who have died from CJD. [113394]
Miss Melanie Johnson: Guidance regarding funeral arrangements for CJD/vCJD patients is contained in the Advisory Committee on Dangerous Pathogens/Spongiform Encephalopathy Advisory Committee (ACDP/SEAC) Joint Working Group publication "Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathy Agents: Safe Working and the Prevention of Infection". This guidance states that, "There is no need to discourage burial of a patient with known or suspected CJD or vCJD, and no special arrangements for burial are required. Similarly, there is no need for any extra precautions to be taken for cremation." The guidance can be found on the Department's website at www.doh.gov.uk/cjd/tseguidance.
Claims Process
Mr. Oaten: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans he has to speed up the process of settling claims against the NHS. [122178]
Ms Rosie Winterton: The Chief Medical Officer, Professor Sir Liam Donaldson, has today published a report for consultation outlining proposals for reform of the National Health Service negligence system. This report, entitled "Making Amends: a consultation paper setting out proposals for reforming the approach to clinical negligence in the NHS", proposes that a less adversarial system should be available. This "Redress" scheme would link to the National Health Service complaints procedure and the new independent inspection structures being taken forward through the Health and Social Care Reform Bill presently before the House. A copy of the report is available in the Library.
Mr. Oaten: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will publish the findings of resolve, the pilot study on out of court settlements of claims in the NHS. [122179]
Ms Rosie Winterton: The Department has only received an interim report on the findings of the 'Resolve' pilot. A final report on the findings of the 'Resolve' pilot is still awaited. A decision whether to publish the findings of the 'Resolve' pilot will be made once the full findings of the 'Resolve' pilot have been received and analysed.
Mr. Oaten: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans he has to increase the use of out of court settlements to resolve claims against the NHS. [122180]
Ms Rosie Winterton: In his report, "Making Amends: a consultation paper setting out proposals for reforming the approach to clinical negligence in the NHS", published today, the Chief Medical Officer, Professor Sir Liam Donaldson, has indicated that under a National Health Service redress scheme, alternative dispute resolution and other measures will be available to provide a system that responds to patients' needs, that supports clinicians to deliver the very best quality care, and that is a driver for the NHS to learn from mistakes to continue to improve the quality of care it delivers. A copy of the report is available in the Library.
30 Jun 2003 : Column 138W
Contingency Plans
Dr. Murrison: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on the involvement of the NHS with Civil Contingency Reaction Forces. [121347]
Mr. Hutton: 14 regional Civil Contingencies Reaction Forces (CCRFs), 500 strong and drawn from the Armed Forces Reserve, are currently being formed by the Ministry of Defence. Formation of these units was an important conclusion of the work undertaken last year on "A New Chapter of the Strategic Defence Review" (cm 5566, dated July 2002). The CCRFs are expected to be fully ready by the end of this year.
The Department of Health, along with many other Departments and agencies, worked with the Ministry of Defence (MOD) on the development of the New Chapter. Once formed, the CCRFs could be made available to provide support to the national health service, during an emergency, under normal crisis management arrangements. They would remain under military command, but would work under the supervision of the police and other civil agencies, including, if appropriate, Department of Health and NHS officials.
The CCRFs will be able to apply general military skills in response to a crisis. Their role would vary according to the nature of the emergency, but might include, for example, management of displaced persons, limited first aid, temporary accommodation management and manning of water and feeding points. To ensure that the NHS response to a crisis is not adversely affected by the mobilisation of the MOD's response, the MOD has adopted a policy of not recruiting doctors, nurses, and paramedics, who are part of the Armed Forces Reserve, into the CCRFs.
Delayed Transfers
Mr. Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what criteria are used to determine what constitutes delayed transfer of care patients in (a) Suffolk, (b) Norfolk, (c) Cambridgeshire and (d) Essex in (i) acute and (ii) non-acute hospitals. [120431]
Dr. Ladyman: All returns to the Department of Health are based on the following definition of a delayed discharge.
"A delayed discharge occurs when a patient is ready for transfer from an 'acute' bed, but still occupying an 'acute' bed in a hospital. The patient being ready for transfer when a clinician in conjunction with the multi-disciplinary team have decided both that the patient no longer requires to occupy an 'acute' hospital bed and is safe to be transferred".
Departmental Ministers
Mr. Horam: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many Ministers there were in his Department in each year since 1996. [120996]
Ms Rosie Winterton: The Cabinet Office produces the publication, "List of Ministerial Responsibilities", listing Ministers by Department. Copies for each year since 1996 are available in the Library.
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A revised version, to take account of recent ministerial changes, will be available shortly in both electronic and paper form.
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