| Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
26 Jan 2004 : Column 189W—continued
Sensory Impairment
Sandra Gidley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate he has made of the number of people aged 65 years and over who suffer from sensory impairment, broken down by sense. [149790]
Dr. Ladyman: The Department collects statistics on the numbers of people in England who are registered with councils as blind, partially sighted, deaf and hard of hearing. The numbers of people over 65 years so registered, as at 31 March 2003, were: blind—121,115; partially sighted—22,165; deaf—19,030, hard of hearing—116,070. Registration is voluntary.
Mental Health
Sandra Gidley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many care homes are registered as catering for the needs of the elderly mentally infirm. [149791]
Dr. Ladyman: Data on the number of care homes that are registered as catering for the needs of the elderly mentally infirm are not centrally available. The available information is shown in the table.
Figures for later years have been collected by the National Care Standards Commission, but comparable details are not available.
| Residential(53) | Nursing(54) | |
|---|---|---|
| 18 and over | 3,050 | 820 |
| Of which: | ||
| 65 and over | 1,130 | (55)— |
(53) Includes dual registered homes
(54) Excludes dual registered homes
(55) Not available
Source:
DH forms RA and RH(N)
Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many and what percentage of prisoners with severe mental illness have a care plan. [150045]
Dr. Ladyman: National health service mental health in-reach teams will be in place in some 90 prisons in England by March 2004, covering those establishments where mental health need is greatest. Our expectation is that where such teams are fully operational, care plans will have been drawn up for all prisoners with severe mental illness.
NHS Direct
Mr. Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what statistics he has collated on the use of NHS Direct in Lancashire, broken down by constituency. [149939]
Ms Rosie Winterton: The statistics collated by NHS Direct North West Coast for the last six months—1 July to 31 December 2003—broken down by constituencies, are shown in the table.
26 Jan 2004 : Column 190W
NHS Pay (Leeds)
Mr. Battle: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many (a) male and (b) female NHS employees in Leeds are paid (i) below £5,000, (ii) £5,001-£10,000, (iii) £10,001-£12,500, (iv) £12,501-£15,000, (v) £15,001-£17,500, (vi) £17,501-£20,000, (vii) £20,001-£22,500, (viii) £22,501-£25,000, (ix) £25,001-£27,500, (x) £27,501-£30,000, (xi) £30,001-£35,000, (xii) £35,001-£40,000, (xiii) £40,001-£45,000, (xiv) £45,001-£50,000, (xv) £50,001-£60,000, (xvi) £60,001-£70,000, (xvii) £70,001-£80,000, (xviii) £80,001-£90,000, (xix) £90,001-£100,000, (xx) £100,001-£150,000, (xxi) £150,001-£200,000 and (xxii) above £200,000. [149033]
Miss Melanie Johnson: This information is not held centrally.
NICE Guidance (Pregnancy)
Jane Griffiths: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when the National Institute for Clinical Excellence will publish guidance on managing problems in early pregnancy; and if he will make a statement. [149302]
Dr. Ladyman: The National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE) published a clinical guideline entitled, "Ante-Natal Care: routine care for the healthy pregnant woman", on 22 October 2003. Full details of this guideline are available on the NICE website at www.nice.org.uk.
Nurses
Mr. Baron: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to his answer of 8 January 2004, Official Report, column 467W, how many public health nurses there were in the NHS in each of the last 10 years. [148910]
Mr. Hutton [holding answer 19 January 2004]: Workforce information currently collected by the Department does not identify either school nurses or communicable disease control nurses, two of the main groups of public health nurses. Health visitors are the only public health nurses separately identified in the non-medical workforce census. The following table shows the number of health visitors employed in the national health service since 1992.
Notes:
1. A new classification of the non-medical workforce was introduced in 1995.
2. Information based on this classification is not directly comparable with earlier years.
Source:
Department of Health Non-medical Workforce Census
26 Jan 2004 : Column 191W
Obesity
Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much funding he has provided for (a) the Weight Wise website and (b) Weight Concern's toolkit on obesity. [147931]
Miss Melanie Johnson: The Department of Health has provided £66,700 over two years to the British Dietetic Association for the development of the Weight Wise website. The website went live on 3 December 2003 and is designed to be used by both health professionals and members of the public.
Funding of £130,000 over three years was provided for Weight Concern's toolkit on obesity. The funding was used to recruit experts in psychology, nutrition and exercise to develop materials, create a workbook to assist individuals and professionals managing obesity, and carry out a preliminary evaluation.
Funding for both these pieces of work was provided through the Department's Section 64 grant scheme.
Operation Telic
Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what percentage of military personnel serving in Operation Telic who have returned from Iraq have since received treatment for mental health problems; [147744]
- (2) of those who suffered from mental health problems after participating in Operation Telic, how many suffered from and were treated for (a) depression, (b) post-traumatic stress disorder, (c) Gulf War Syndrome, (d) panic disorder, (e) anxiety disorder and (f) motor neurone disease; [147746]
(3) of those who suffered from mental illness on returning from Operation Telic, how many were treated (a) by the NHS and (b) privately. [147747]
Mr. Caplin: I have been asked to reply.
This information is currently being collated. I expect to be able to write to the hon. Gentlemen shortly and a copy of my letter will be placed in the Library of the House.
Pain Management Clinic (Guys and St. Thomas')
Mr. Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps he is taking to ensure that the waiting list for access to the INPUT pain management clinic at Guys
26 Jan 2004 : Column 192W
and St. Thomas's hospital is reduced; and when he will respond to the letter from Mrs. Jackson of Christchurch dated 5 December 2003 on this subject. [150536]
Mr. Hutton: Officials responded to Mrs. Jackson's letter of 5 December 2003 regarding the INPUT pain clinic on the 13 January 2004.
I am assured by Guy's and St. Thomas' Hospitals National Health Service Trust that they have taken steps to reduce waiting times for the INPUT pain clinic:
- Extra clinic sessions have been added.
- All referrals have to be validated by the consultant.
- The non-general practitioner referral waiting list is currently being validated to ensure that patients still wish to attend for assessment.
- Improvements in the administration system mean it now provides better information about clinic slot availability and facilitates the offer of vacant slots to non-GP referral patients.
- Staff are now able to compile reports in order to manage clinics more effectively.
- A review of the systems for sending out-patient appointments has taken place and a reminder system will be introduced to minimise the number of appointment slots, which might otherwise be wasted if patients did not attend.
- To increase psychologist out-patient capacity, the weekly timetable for all psychologists is currently being reviewed, in order to identify how their workloads can be altered to allow more outpatient assessment time.
- The trust also plans to employ a service improvement facilitator to help improve the service provided by the clinic.
| Next Section | Index | Home Page |