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Health Care
Mr. Pike: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much was invested in healthcare provision in each hospital in each of the last 10 years in (a) Burnley and (b) Lancashire. [181525]
Miss Melanie Johnson:
The information is not available in the format requested. Expenditure per weighted head in the Cumbria and Lancashire Strategic Health Authority (SHA) area, which includes the
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constituency of Burnley, has increased from £600.03 in 1997–98 to £1,173.57 in 2002–03 (the latest year available). This does not represent the total expenditure per head as an element of health expenditure cannot be identified by SHA area.
Mr. Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how his Department intends to provide adequate health care to people with learning disabilities. [182442]
Dr. Ladyman: I refer my hon. Friend to the reply I gave to my hon. Friend the Member for Tamworth (Mr. Jenkins) on 15 March 2004, Official Report, columns 117–18W.
Health Protection Agency
Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what measures he will put in place to ensure that the Health Protection Agency supports the development of frameworks to protect the patient, as set out in paragraph 2.27 of the NHS Improvement Plan. [181653]
Miss Melanie Johnson: The overarching role of the Health Protection Agency (HPA) is to protect the patient by protecting the population. The corporate and business plans of the HPA set out an extensive programme of work over the next five years to achieve this aim. They include 14 strategic goals with supporting objectives and milestones.
In the context of the NHS Improvement Plan, one of these specific objectives is to support the national health service in implementing "Winning ways; working together to reduce healthcare associated infection in England" by providing data to enable development and evaluation of intervention strategies applied in the NHS.
We will hold the HPA to account for its achievement of all of its objectives, by the normal accountability and performance review mechanisms.
Hospital Endoscopes
Mrs. Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what reports he has received of incidents of insufficient decontamination of hospital endoscopes; [181623]
(2) if he will make a statement on measures to ensure sufficient decontamination of hospital equipment, with particular reference to flexible endoscopes; [181624]
(3) when audits have been conducted into decontamination procedures for flexible endoscopes. [181625]
Miss Melanie Johnson:
The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) operates a reporting system for adverse incidents concerning all medical devices used within England. In 2001, the MHRA received a report of an incident where a hospital was not following the correct procedure for operating the equipment used to decontaminate endoscopes. This report was investigated by MHRA in consultation with the manufacturer and healthcare user. The hospital was advised of the correct procedure by the manufacturer and the hospital's risk manager was informed of the findings. MHRA has received no further reports from England.
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Following recent reports in Northern Ireland of inadequate decontamination of endoscopes, on 23 June as a precautionary measure, MHRA issued a medical device alert to all trusts in England, advising them to carry out an immediate assessment of endoscope decontamination processes, for both flexible and rigid endoscopes. In line with MHRA's procedures, this alert was forwarded to Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales for them to consider publication.
As a result of information obtained from a series of visits carried out by NHS Estates (NHSE) to reprocessing facilities between March and November 2001, the Department adopted a two-stage strategy for improving decontamination.
The first stage involved the allocation of funds to address the most urgent needs that national health service trusts had identified as a result of their reviews. All NHS trusts in England had access to reprocessing services of an acceptable standard by December 2001.
The second stage of the strategy involves ensuring that all NHS trusts in England have access to decontamination services that are both sustainable and meet the most up to date standards. Although the standards to be met—those underpinning the Medical Devices Directive (93/42/EEC)—are set nationally, the way in which they are met is decided locally. To this end, strategic health authorities have drawn up strategies for improving decontamination across the whole of their health systems.
Guidance drawn up by NHSE and issued to the NHS in England recommends that NHS trusts should undertake regular reviews and audits of all aspects of the process of decontamination—including flexible endoscopes—within their organisations. NHSE has developed an audit tool for NHS trusts to use in conducting their self-assessments. Such audits result in action plans to address any deficiencies that have been identified. The Department does not collect information about when such local audits have been carried out.
Induction Centre Screening
Dr. Murrison: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what estimate his Department has made of the cost (a) per person and (b) in England of screening people in induction centres for (i) TB and (ii) HIV in each year since 1997; [178280]
(2) what proportion of immigrants (a) in induction centres where screening is offered and (b) in England have taken up the offer of screening for (i) TB and (ii) HIV in each year since 1997; [178281]
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(3) if he will list the UK induction centres which (a) offer and (b) do not offer asylum seekers (i) voluntary and (ii) routine screening for (A) TB and (B) HIV. [178282]
Miss Melanie Johnson: Tuberculosis screening has been incorporated into the general health assessment which is offered on a voluntary basis to all asylum seekers in the Kent (Dover) and Yorkshire and Humberside induction centres since June 2002 and July 2003 respectively. A check for HIV is not done routinely in the centres, unless it is requested by an individual or a specific need is identified by healthcare staff. The costs of the service vary from site to site and case to case and it is therefore not possible to provide a breakdown.
The Department does not collect information on the numbers of immigrants in England who are tested for TB or HIV. However, locally collected information for the last six months from the Kent (Dover) induction centre suggests that 99 per cent., or 2,378 out of 2,406, of asylum seekers took up the offer of a general health assessment, including TB screening.
Mental Health
Mr. Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate his Department has made of the number of people with mental disorders. [182400]
Ms Rosie Winterton: The Department has not made an estimate of the number of people with mental disorders. However, the Office for National Statistics published "Psychiatric Morbidity Among Adults Living in Private Households, 2000", that describes the prevalence of a range of mental disorders in the general household population. It also describes how people with particular disorders differ from those without any disorder on a range of factors: their background and personal characteristics, including employment and accommodation, physical health, current treatment and service use. This publication is available in the Library.
Ms Buck: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will rank each (a) primary care trust area and (b) health authority area by the rate of detentions under the Mental Health Act 1983 in 2002–03; and how many detentions there were in each area. [182356]
Ms Rosie Winterton: Information is not available in the requested format.
Information on the number of detentions under the Mental Health Act 1983 of patients in national health service facilities by strategic health authority (SHA) and the rate of detention per 100,000 of the SHA population in England in 2002–03 is shown in the table.
Notes:
1. Figures exclude previous legislation (fifth schedule) and other Acts.
2. A patient may be sectioned more than once under the Korner aggregate return KP90.
3. Populations used are 2002 end of year estimates based upon the 2001 census.
Source:
Department of Health form KP90.
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Adam Price: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what discussions he has had with user and provider bodies in relation to the proposed Mental Health Bill. [181571]
Ms Rosie Winterton: Formal consultation has taken place on the review of mental health legislation through the Green Paper "Reform of the Mental Health Act" 1983 (November 1999), the White Paper "Reforming the Mental Health Act" (December 2000), and the draft Mental Health Bill and consultation document published in June 2002. Throughout the review I have met with representatives of all the key user and provider bodies. Since publication of the draft Bill, I have held a series of meetings attended by individual users, voluntary organisations, health and social care professionals and national health service and local authority managers, specifically to discuss the practical operation of policies underpinning the draft Bill.
On 26 November 2003 the Secretary of State, John Reid, announced that a revised draft Mental Health Bill will be brought forward for pre-legislative scrutiny in this session and key stakeholders will be invited to give evidence to the Parliamentary Scrutiny Committee.
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