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24 Jun 2004 : Column 1540W—continued

Acute Mental Illness Beds (Sefton)

Mrs. Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many acute mental illness beds were available for (a) the elderly, (b) children and (c) other age groups in Sefton in each of the last three years; and how many were secure units. [177858]

Miss Melanie Johnson: Information most closely associated with place of residency is not collected on a constituency level but at national health service trust level. The information is shown in the following table.
 
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	Elderly			Children
NHS organisation	2001–01	2001–02	2002–03	2001–01	2001–02	2002–03
Southport and Ormskirk NHS Trust	—	—	—	—	—	—
Sefton PCT	—	—	—	—	—	—
Five Boroughs Partnership NHS Trust	—	—	204	—	—	—
Cheshire and Wirral Partnership NHS Trust	—	—	142	—	—	10
Mersey Care NHS Trust	—	151	149	—	—	—
Royal Liverpool Childrens NHS Trust	—	—	—	8	9	9

	Other ages			Secure (other)
NHS organisation	2001–01	2001–02	2002–03	2000–01	2001–02	2002–03
Southport and Ormskirk NHS Trust	—	—	—	—	—	—
Sefton PCT	—	—	—	—	—	—
Five Boroughs Partnership NHS Trust	—	—	302	—	—	20
Cheshire and Wirral Partnership NHS Trust	—	—	272	—	—	15
Mersey Care NHS Trust	—	314	316	—	17	44
Royal Liverpool Childrens NHS Trust	—	—	—	—	—	—

Alcohol

Mr. Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how he plans to curb teenage alcohol consumption. [179826]

Miss Melanie Johnson [holding answer 23 June 2004]: Existing licensing legislation expressly prohibits the sale of alcohol to the under 18s and its consumption by them on licensed premises in certain circumstances. The implementation of the Licensing Act 2003 will further tighten these laws by extending their scope, increasing penalties, removing existing anomalies and making licences more instantly at risk of forfeit where offences take place.

My right hon. Friend, The Home Secretary announced on 11 June 2004 that the Home Office police standards unit, working in partnership with the Association of Chief Police Officers, will be inviting forces and other partners from across the country to take part in a co-ordinated programme of enforcement and initiatives to tackle alcohol fuelled violence. The campaign includes targeting the irresponsible few who encourageunderage and binge drinking and targeting drunken behaviour. This takes forward one of the recommendations in the Government's alcohol harm reduction strategy for England.

The Department produces a number of leaflets for young people and their parents setting out the risks of alcohol misuse. The Department also plans to develop a range of new health promotion messages for binge drinkers, many of whom will be teenagers. The Government's alcohol harm reduction strategy for England set out the framework of a voluntary social responsibility scheme for alcohol producers and retailers. The Department and the Home Office will work with the drinks industry to develop this scheme.

Mr. Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people in the Chorley and South Ribble Primary Care Trust have been treated for alcohol-related illness in each of the last five years. [180058]

Miss Melanie Johnson: The information requested is shown in the table.
 
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Finished admissions into national health service hospitals for patients resident in Chorley and South Ribble Primary Care Trust 1998–99 to 2002–03 with a primary diagnosis of "alcohol-related illness"

	Finished admissions
1998–99	230
1999–2000	230
2000–01	204
2001–02	243
2002–03	246

Notes:
Finished Admission Episodes
A finished admission episode is the first period of in-patient care under one consultant within one healthcare provider. Please note that admissions do not represent the number of in-patients, as a person may have more than one admission within the year.
Ungrossed Data
Figures have not been adjusted for shortfalls in data (i.e. the data are ungrossed).
Source:
Hospital Episode Statistics (HES), Department of Health.

Antidepressants

Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many working days were spent between June 2003 and May 2004 on the review of selective serotonin re-uptake inhibitors and related antidepressants being conducted by the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency and Committee on Safety of Medicines. [179718]

Ms Rosie Winterton: The Committee on Safety of Medicines' (CSM) expert working group on the safety of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors was established in May 2003 and met 11 times between June 2003 and May 2004. The CSM has considered reports from the expert working group on seven occasions. A range of staff from a number of different disciplines within the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency has been involved in the review at various stages. It is not possible to provide a meaningful estimate of the number of working days spent on the review because the proportion of staff time dedicated to the review has varied according to the type of input required over the time period in question.
 
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Arm's Length Bodies

Mr. Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will estimate how many employees of his Department are to be transferred to a departmental arm's length body as part of the Change programme. [175312]

Ms Rosie Winterton: We estimate that 415 posts will be transferred to departmental arms length bodies as part of the Department's change programme. Those bodies are themselves being reviewed, as my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State, said in his written statement on 20 May.

Attitude Surveys

Norman Lamb: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what surveys of public perceptions of (a) his Department, (b) the NHS and (c) other areas of responsibility of the Department have taken place over the last 12 months; what the (i) title and (ii) nature of these surveys was; what the findings of each survey were; where these findings have been published; what the cost of all surveys was; and if he will make a statement and place copies of the surveys in the Library. [174338]

Ms Rosie Winterton: For the Department, we have not commissioned any surveys into public perceptions over the past 12 months.

The Department commissioned an opinion research agency, MORI, to carry out a survey into public perceptions of the national health service in winter 2003. The full report, called "Public perceptions of the NHS tracking survey", has been published on the MORI website and can be accessed through the Department's website at: http://www.dh.gov.uk/PublicationsAndStatistics/PublishedSurvey/ListOfSurveySince1990/fs/en

Copies have been placed in the Library.

Based on a relatively small national sample of 1,000 interviews, the results provide a useful check on public sentiment and patient experience to complement the much larger patient surveys undertaken by the former Commission for Health Improvement and its successor, the Commission for Healthcare Audit and Inspection. Results have been shared with NHS senior managers and stakeholders to inform policy objectives and business planning. These surveys show high levels of patient satisfaction with the NHS.

Since 2000, we have carried out six such surveys into public perceptions of the national health service at a total cost of £236,950 (plus VAT). This figure also includes a small amount of qualitative work carried out with the 2000 survey.

For other areas of responsibility, information on surveys into public perceptions of the Department's arm's length bodies could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Breakfast

Mr. Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans his Department has for promoting the benefits of eating breakfast to children. [179827]

 
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Miss Melanie Johnson [holding answer 23 June 2004]: The Department is undertaking a healthier breakfast club pilot project as part of the joint Department of Health/Department for Education and Skills "Food in Schools" (FiS) programme. The results of this, and the other seven Department of Health-led FiS pilot projects, will be disseminated to schools early next year.

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