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Mental Health Services
3. Mr. Andrew Mackay (Bracknell): If he will make a statement on mental health services. [135970]
The Minister of State, Department of Health (Ms Rosie Winterton): Mental health services are being modernised in line with the standards set out in the national service framework and the commitments announced in the NHS plan. We are encouraged by the progress made, but we are also aware of the special challenges facing some services.
Mr. Mackay : Does the Minister not realise that my constituents will see that answer as hopelessly complacent, against the background of the Berkshire Healthcare NHS trust, which looks after the mentally ill in Berkshire, having to make £8.1 million worth of cuts this year in services to the most vulnerable and dependent people in the community? How do I explain to my constituents that, while Ministers claim that more money is going into the NHS, those vulnerable people are going to suffer hugely in the forthcoming year?
Ms Winterton: Berkshire Healthcare NHS trust has consistently met the key national service framework targets, particularly in the development of a 24-hour service such as crisis resolution. In Bracknell especially, there are gateway workers in place who are key to service improvement for patients. I suggest that the right hon. Gentleman explain to his constituents how services would be provided after the 20 per cent. cut that his party would institute.
Mr. David Hinchliffe (Wakefield): The Government deserve great credit for many of the improvements that are taking place in mental health services, particularly through the national service framework. One of the areas that remains a concern to many in mental health is the role of the special hospitals. In the light of the possibility of mental health legislation coming through
in the new Session or the one after that, will there be any chance of reforming the special hospitals and following the various recommendations of numerous reports initiated by the Government themselves and suggesting that we ought to move away from the current model of special hospitals?
Ms Winterton: I know my hon. Friend has great expertise, particularly in the issue of mental health as well as in wider health issues. Of course, a number of changes in the way in which the special hospitals operate have been made in recent years. We are looking at the reports that have come forward, and I can assure my hon. Friend that we want to ensure that the special hospitals meet the needs of the 21st century. If that requires further changes to be made, of course we will do that.
Tim Loughton (East Worthing and Shoreham): The Minister's answer to my right hon. Friend the Member for Bracknell (Mr. Mackay) was exceedingly complacent; for "challenges" read "failure"—what the Government have failed to achieve so far. In 2000, the NHS plan gave a commitment to establish 335 crisis resolution teams by 2003, with 24-hour access by 2004. Our recent survey revealed that over 38 per cent. of mental health trusts do not have crisis resolution teams, over 50 per cent. do not offer 24-hour access and very few have anything like a full complement of staff in any case.
Will the Minister give us an update on when that pledge will be met, or is it another empty promise that is to be shelved? Will she also tell us why there has been a loss of 4,000 mental health beds since her Government came to power?
Ms Winterton: The hon. Gentleman is quite mistaken. There have been significant steps to support the delivery of national targets through the National Institute for Mental Health in England. There are now more than 100 crisis resolution teams and more than 200 assertive outreach teams in place. Progress is being made on the targets for early intervention schemes. We know that £262 million extra was spent on mental health services last year.
I ask the hon. Gentleman to pledge that he will continue the investment that this Government have put in. We are improving mental health services; his party would cut them.
Dr. Jack Cunningham (Copeland): Will the Minister look very closely at any conclusions that emerge from the mental health and learning disability review consultation which has just concluded in north and west Cumbria? May I join the Chairman of the Select Committee, my hon. Friend the Member for Wakefield (Mr. Hinchliffe), in welcoming the Government's determination to commit additional resources to mental health service provision—a decision that is long overdue and was never taken by the Conservative party in government? Is the Minister aware, and will she accept, that it is unacceptable in west Cumbria for crisis and acute bed provision to be removed and located in the
centres to which my hon. Friend referred earlier? That is a backward step. We need care and provision in the community, not centralisation of those services.
Ms Winterton: I am aware that my right hon. Friend has expressed concern about that situation on behalf of his constituents and that he is meeting the Under-Secretary of State for Health, my hon. Friend the Member for Welwyn Hatfield (Miss Johnson), to discuss the proposed changes, the consultation and the real anxieties that he and his constituents have raised.
Hywel Williams (Caernarfon): Anti-oppressive practice is central to mental health services, and to the Mental Health Act 1983. It was, however, conspicuously absent from the Government's legislative proposals last year. Can the Minister assure us that in any future legislation linguistically appropriate practice will be given due regard, particularly in Wales?
Ms Winterton: The 1983 Act does of course need to be updated to provide more safeguards for patients, and to take account of public safety issues. I assure the hon. Gentleman that we are taking on board comments made during the consultation, and that we will publish a Bill when parliamentary time allows.
Nutrition (Children)
4. Helen Jones (Warrington, North): What recent discussions he has held on the links between diet and health in children; and if he will make a statement. [135971]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health (Dr. Stephen Ladyman): The impact of diet on health is recognised, and we are committed to improving children's dietary intakes. Ministers regularly meet other Government Departments and external organisations to achieve that. Discussion to develop the Department of Health led food and health action plan will enable further action to be taken by all stakeholders.
Helen Jones : I congratulate the Government on what they have already done, but in view of increasing evidence of poor diet among children, the likely effects on their health and the consequent likely demands on the health service, will my hon. Friend liaise with the Department for Education and Skills to establish how we might improve both the standard and the take-up of school meals? We need to send children a consistent message, and—as well as launching welcome initiatives such as the welcome fruit in schools initiative—ensure that they are given a healthy meal at lunchtime.
Dr. Ladyman: I thank my hon. Friend for her positive comments about the progress we have already made, especially with the fruit in schools programme. We do need to work closely with the Department for Education and Skills, and we are doing so. The food in schools programme, which is intended to provide healthy dietary options, is a joint initiative from that Department and the Department of Health. Ultimately, however, we must set ourselves a target. School meals must meet three criteria: they must be healthy, tasty and
affordable. We are the first to admit that we have not achieved those standards everywhere yet, but we shall certainly be working on it.
Dr. Jenny Tonge (Richmond Park): Is the Minister aware of alarming reports from the medical profession about an increase in rickets caused by vitamin D deficiency? What plans, strategies or programmes exist for investigation of this serious matter? Has the Minister, for instance, any plans to legislate for compulsory cod liver oil?
Dr. Ladyman: I would welcome inclusion of that proposal in the next Liberal Democrat election manifesto. I suspect that it would win us a few more votes.
The hon. Lady is right, and my hon. Friend the Member for Welwyn Hatfield (Melanie Johnson), the Under-Secretary of State for Health, who deals with this subject, is aware of the issues that she has raised. We are working on a number of initiatives, including the fruit in schools and food in schools programmes to ensure that all children have a healthy and balanced diet. The evidence mentioned by the hon. Lady will be fed into that process.
Mr. Andy Reed (Loughborough): I recognise that many programmes and initiatives are emerging, especially in schools, but parents such as me and, I am sure, many other Members are concerned about the difficulty of ensuring that our children are not exposed to advertising and other means of forcing unhealthy foods down them. We try our hardest, but is there a possibility that a link with physical education and activity in schools would begin to make people understand we need to tackle problems of obesity now rather than later?
Dr. Ladyman: My hon. Friend is right—we must take an holistic view. It is a question not just of diet but of exercise, education and making sure that our children know what foods are healthy and how to create a balanced diet for themselves. On exposing children to undue influences, evidence from Strathclyde university, commissioned by the Food Standards Agency, shows that children are influenced by negative messages from TV advertising, for example. We are considering that evidence and we have an open mind as to how we shall deal with it in the future; however, my hon. Friend can be assured that we are going to deal with it.
Mr. Simon Burns (West Chelmsford): Is the Minister aware that 13 per cent. of eight-year-olds and 17 per cent. of 15-year-olds are clinically obese, and does he share my concern about the dramatic increase in type 2 diabetes among young children? I recognise that the message that people, including children, should eat more fruit and vegetables is welcome, but does the Minister not accept that exercise is a crucial part of the equation in reducing these trends? Will he suggest to his colleagues in the Department for Education and Skills that more should be done to encourage more exercise, particularly in our schools?
Dr. Ladyman: The hon. Gentleman is right, but he obviously needs to wash his ears out because I just said exactly that. Exercise is vital and we must look at these issues holistically. On discussions with the Department for Education and Skills, the food and health action plan, which I mentioned in answering the first question from my hon. Friend the Member for Warrington, North (Helen Jones), is a cross-Departmental initiative that is working on all these issues and taking an holistic view of the health of our children.
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