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Post Mortems

Nick Harvey: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what advice he is giving to strategic health authorities and trusts in the south-west regarding the current capacity constraints in the carrying out of post mortems on babies and children. [199816]

Ms Rosie Winterton: The Department is aware of the current capacity difficulties in paediatric pathology in the south-west of England, and is reassured that the local health community is taking steps to resolve them. More generally, the Department is addressing nationally the pressures facing this important subspecialty through initiatives to increase the number of histopathologists working in the national health service. These include the international fellowships programme, the histopathology training schools scheme and the conversion fellowships scheme. The latter is an innovative initiative to enable existing consultant histopathologists to re-train as paediatric pathologists.
 
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Prisoners (Mental Health)

Mrs. Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many people are employed to treat mental health disorders in each prison establishment. [201057]

Dr. Ladyman: This information is not available. Most healthcare staff working in prison establishments will be involved in some way in the care and treatment of prisoners with mental health problems. We have met, and exceeded, the commitment in the NHS Plan that, by 2004, 300 additional staff would be employed to provide mental health services for prisoners.

Mrs. Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what mental health programmes are available to prisoners upon release from prison. [201058]

Dr. Ladyman: Released prisoners can access the full range of mental health services available to the population in which they become resident. An important function of national health service mental
 
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health in-reach teams working in prisons is to ensure effective through-care for prisoners with serious mental health problems, to be followed up by support from appropriate mental health services on release.

Mrs. Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many prisoners have been (a) diagnosed with and (b) treated for mental health disorders in each year since 1997, broken down by prison establishment. [201059]

Dr. Ladyman: This information is not available in the form requested. A survey of mental ill health in the prison population of England and Wales, undertaken in 1997 by the Office for National Statistics, showed that around 90 per cent. of prisoners sampled displayed evidence of at least one of the five disorders—personality disorder, psychosis, neurosis, alcohol misuse and drug dependence—considered in the survey. There will, at any one time, be around 5,000 prisoners with a severe mental illness, although not all of them will be acutely ill.

Prison establishments and their local national health service partners are responsible for assessing the health needs of their populations and developing appropriate services to meet them. NHS-funded prison mental health in-reach teams were providing community type mental health services in 90 establishments in England by March 2004.

Mrs. Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on incidence of mental health disorders amongst ethnic minority prisoners. [201060]

Dr. Ladyman: In 1997, the Office for National Statistics undertook a survey of mental ill health in the prison population of England and Wales. The report of that survey, Psychiatric morbidity among prisoners in England and Wales (1998), a copy of which is available in the Library, included a range of information on the prevalence of specific mental health problems in black and minority ethnic prisoners.

Mrs. Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on the effectiveness of mental health service (a) provision and (b) interventions in prisons. [201061]

Dr. Ladyman: The current model of service, that of a community mental health team, used in prisons reflects the current model of choice in contemporary mental health services in the national health service. An independent academically led project to evaluate the effectiveness of prison mental health services has begun.

Mrs. Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what programmes are in place to ensure swift identification of prisoners with mental health disorders upon arrival at prison establishments; and which prison establishments operate such programmes. [201062]

Dr. Ladyman: The Prison Service and the Department are introducing a revised reception health screening process designed to identify prisoners with immediate health care needs, or who are at significant risk of a serious health problem. The new process focuses explicitly on ensuring prompt and effective identification of individuals with mental health problems.
 
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The new reception screening arrangements have been introduced at the following establishments in England: Durham, Eastwood Park, Feltham, Glen Parva, Holme House, Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester, New Hall, Wandsworth, Brixton, Bedford, Lewes, Preston, Styal, Wormwood Scrubs, Woodhill, Dorchester, Exeter, Lincoln, Norwich, Pentonville, Hull, Chelmsford, Nottingham, Hindley, Altcourse, Blakenhurst, Bristol, Brinsford, Gloucester, Highdown, Forest Bank, Onley, Shrewsbury, Stoke Heath, Elmley, Brockhill, Bullingdon, Long Lartin, Lancaster Farms, Wetherby, Wakefield, Holloway, Belmarsh, Full Sutton, Huntercombe, Reading, Werrington, Low Newton, Kirkham, Morton Hall, Foston Hall. Work is under way to ensure that the new arrangements are in operation at the remainder of establishments that receive prisoners direct from court by April 2005.

Mrs. Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for Health which prisons operate permanent community mental health teams. [201063]

Dr. Ladyman: The following prison establishments in England, 90 in total, have established community mental health team (CMHT) format services as part of waves one, two and three of the national prison mental health programme.

Wave one—introduced during 2001–02—Belmarsh, Birmingham, Brixton, Bullwood Hall, Chelmsford. Durham, Eastwood Park, Feltham, Frankland, Holloway, Leeds, Leicester, Pentonville, Wandsworth, Winchester, Whitemoor, Woodhill and Wormwood Scrubs.

Wave two—introduced during 2002–03—Ashfield, Bedford, Blakenhurst, Bristol, Brockhill, Dorchester, Exeter, Glen Parva, Holme House, Hull, Lewes, Lincoln, Liverpool, Long Lartin, Manchester, Moorland, New Hall, Norwich, Nottingham, Onley, Parkhurst, Portland, Preston, Rochester, Styal, and Wakefield.

Wave three—introduced during 2003–04—Albany/Camp Hill, Altcourse, Aylesbury, Blantyre House, Brinsford, Buckley Hall, Bullingdon, Canterbury, Castington, Coldingley, Cookham Wood, Dartmoor, Deerbolt, Doncaster, Dovegate, Drake Hall, Elmley, Forest Bank, Foston Hall, Full Sutton, Garth, Gartree, Gloucester, Haverigg, Highdown, Highpoint North/Highpoint South, Hindley, Hollesley Bay/Warren Hill, Huntercombe, Kingston, Lancaster Farms, Littlehey, Low Newton, Maidstone, Northallerton, Reading, Risley, Shrewsbury, Stafford, Stoke Heath, Swaleside, Swinfen Hall, Thorn Cross, Werrington, Wetherby, and Wolds.

All remaining establishments—wave four—have now received funding for the commencement of CMHT format services, although, for some, such funding has been provided to facilitate an assessment of service need rather than a fully functional service. Not all establishments will require fully funded CMHT format services. Establishments where the need was highest were targeted in waves one to three.
 
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Public Health White Paper

Mr. David Stewart: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans the Government have to extend the policy objectives set out in the Public Health White Paper through EU-wide action. [199852]

Miss Melanie Johnson [holding answer 1 December 2004]: The Government will be working within the European Union to carry forward action on relevant policy objectives contained in the "Choosing Health" White Paper. We will also be pursuing wider White Paper aims through the United Kingdom presidency next year, notably through the public health theme, "Empowering People, Reducing Inequalities".

Residential and Nursing Homes

Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many residential and nursing home beds were available in (a) England and (b) each local authority, at the end of each year since 1996–97. [200592]

Dr. Ladyman: Information showing the number of residential care home places in England and councils with social services responsibilities (CSSRs) for adults aged 18 and over, at 31 March for the years 1997 to 2001, and the number of nursing home places in England and health authorities for adults aged 18 and over, at 31 March for the years 1997 to 2001, has been placed in the Library.

Figures for later years were collected by the National Care Standards Commission and now the Commission for Social Care Inspection, but comparable details are not available.

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