---

13 Dec 2004 : Column 954W—continued

Digital Hearing Aids

Mr. Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people in Coventry are on waiting lists for digital hearing aids. [203585]

Dr. Ladyman: This information is not collected centrally.

We have invested £94 million over two years, which will be used to make digital hearing aids available across England by April 2005.

Draft Mental Health Bill

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when he will publish the code of practice to accompany the draft Mental Health Bill. [203185]

Ms Rosie Winterton: The draft Mental Health Bill requires the appropriate authority, for example, the Secretary of State for Health, to publish a code of practice. The code of practice cannot be laid before Parliament until the Bill has been enacted. However, we plan to publish a first draft of the code of practice when the Mental Health Bill is introduced into Parliament.

Employment Advisers

Dr. Murrison: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the cost of the commitment to provide access to an employment adviser for everyone with severe mental health problems made in the Choosing Health White Paper. [202273]

Ms Rosie Winterton: The Social Exclusion Unit's recent report on social exclusion and mental health, copies of which are available in the Library, provides examples where the implementation of individual placement and support approach, which integrates an employment adviser within each clinical team and moves towards providing employment advice for all service users who express a desire to return to work, has proved cost neutral or cost saving. To support the commitment to work towards proving access to an
 
13 Dec 2004 : Column 955W
 
employment advisor for everyone with severe mental health problems, £140 million has been invested in vocational and day services.

Dr. Murrison: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of (a) the availability of employment advice and Individual Placement Support to people with severe mental health problems, (b) the demand for access to employment advice for people with severe mental health problems and (c) the number of people with severe mental health problems who do not have access to an employment adviser. [202274]

Ms Rosie Winterton: Detailed information about the importance for people with mental health problems of employment advice and of individual placement support can be found in the in the social exclusion unit's recent report on social inclusion and mental health (ISBN: 1851127178) available in the Library, which sets out the evidence base. Although this approach has not been implemented across the country, there are a number of mental health provider trusts which are delivering this form of vocational rehabilitation with encouraging results.

There is information relating to demand contained in the 2004 patient survey results published by the Healthcare Commission. Of the service users who felt they needed and would like help to find work, 53 per cent., said they had not received any. This is why the Government have invested £140 million in vocational and day services for people with severe mental health problems. This will be used to implement the international evidence on what works, while providing a range of services to meet different needs.

Employment Terms and Conditions

Dr. Murrison: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what initiatives are being assessed by the Government to achieve the aim of improving the quality of jobs by reducing monotony, increasing job control and applying appropriate human resources practices and policies, referred to in the Choosing Health White Paper. [202272]

Jane Kennedy: I have been asked to reply.

The Health and Safety Executive has worked closely with its partners to develop Stress Management Standards are designed to help organisations identify effective and locally applicable solutions to manage work-related stress. The management standards encourage organisations to review periodically these solutions to ensure they have the desired outcome. The standards provide the yardstick by which organisations can gauge their performance in tackling a range of key stressors, including those associated with job design.

Expert Patients Programme

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, (1) how many primary care trusts had completed all four pilot stage courses under the Expert Patients Programme on (a) 1 April and (b) 1 December; [203613]
 
13 Dec 2004 : Column 956W
 

(2) what the total cost to central funds has been of the Expert Patients Programme to date; and how much funding has been allocated to support the mainstreaming of the Expert Patients Programme across the NHS between 2004 and 2007; [203623]

(3) what plans he has to change the name of the Expert Patients Programme; [203627]

(4) how many primary care trusts are (a) running Expert Patients Programme courses and (b) committed to establishing Expert Patients Programme courses. [203628]

Miss Melanie Johnson: From current information available from survey returns, 167 primary care trusts (PCTs) are known to have completed four pilot courses by 1 June 2004 and 204 PCTS delivered four courses or more by 1 December 2O04.

290 PCTs are currently engaged in either pilot or post-pilot course activity. 191 PCTs, out of 280 PCTS who responded to the survey, have courses arranged post pilot. On average this equates to 4.8 courses per PCT, an escalation of 2.3 courses per PCT compared with the previous year.

The total estimated cost to central funding to date amounts to £9 million, which includes support to the local implementation of the expert patients programme (EPP) through PCTs. Mainstreaming allocated funding for 2004–05 is £2 million. The allocation for 2005–07 is still under review.

There are currently no plans to change the name of the EEP but I understand the EPP strategic management board has discussed the need to find a name which fully reflects the scope of the programme and its commitment to supported self-management by people with long term conditions, but no recommendation has yet been made.

Eye Tests

Mr. Crausby: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many senior citizens in Bolton, North-East have access to free eye tests. [203372]

Miss Melanie Johnson: Figures for the number of sight tests by constituency are not collected centrally.

The total number of sight tests paid for by Bolton Primary Care Trust in the year 2003–04 for people 'aged 60 and over' was 18,760. Sight tests cannot be equated to the numbers of patients.

Fireworks

Huw Irranca-Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many firework-related callouts to the ambulance service there were in England in (a) 2004 and (b) 2003. [204060]

Ms Rosie Winterton: This information is not collected centrally.

Fluoride

Mr. Crausby: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what funding his Department provides to the British Fluoridation Society; and whether the society receives funding on a regular basis. [203362]

 
13 Dec 2004 : Column 957W
 

Miss Melanie Johnson: Successive governments have funded the British Fluoridation Society. Funding of £85,000 in 2003–04 and £87,000 in 2004–05 has been provided.

Food Labelling

Dr. Iddon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) if he will make a statement on his policy objectives for further discussion in the EU regarding legislation on (a) food supplements, (b) nutrition and health claims on food products and (c) sports nutrition products; [201983]

(2) if he will ensure that opportunities are provided under the UK's Presidency of the EU for discussions on legislation on (a) food supplements, (b) nutrition and health claims on food products and (c) sports nutrition products. [201984]

Miss Melanie Johnson: The policy objectives for this legislation are as follows:

The Food Supplements Directive was adopted in July 2002 and applies in member states from 1 August 2005. The Government must ensure that food supplements on sale after 1 August comply with the relevant legislation.

The Government's objective is to improve consumer protection from misleading and fraudulent nutrition and health claims on food, with proportionate measures that minimise new burdens on business.

The Government's policy in relation to proposals for European Union legislation on sports nutrition is to press for proportionate legislation, which protects public health and supports consumer choice.

All Departments will be concentrating efforts on progressing the agenda of Council work, which will include the nutrition and health claims proposal. It would not be appropriate for discussion on the food supplements directive to be considered as Council business during this period as the Directive was adopted in July 2002 and applies from 1 August 2005. The Commission is expected to produce a formal proposal on sports nutrition products, but it has yet to publish its 2005 work programme. It is therefore unclear at this stage whether this will be available for discussion during the United Kingdom Presidency.

---