---

Local Improvement Finance Trust (North Staffordshire)

5. Paul Farrelly (Newcastle-under-Lyme) (Lab): How much is being spent on the NHS local improvement finance trust programme in North Staffordshire.[216970]
 
22 Feb 2005 : Column 140
 

The Secretary of State for Health (Dr. John Reid): I apologise for the delay while I open my book, Mr. Speaker.

Around £5.4 million of public capital has so far been provided to support the North Staffordshire LIFT project. A further £4.5 million of private capital has been committed to fund the first two buildings. This will provide patients with modern accessible health care, in purpose-built, high-quality premises and, I hope, provide my hon. Friend's constituents with a far better service than before.

Paul Farrelly: I thank the Secretary of State for that welcome confirmation of additional investment in my local NHS. Two of the brand new health centres in the programme are due to be built in two of my local communities—Audley and Cross Heath. Does my right hon. Friend agree that these are examples of our real achievement in bringing the NHS right to our constituents' doorsteps? It is on that record, that achievement and that investment that we will rightly be judged, come the next general election.

Dr. Reid: Yes, I agree entirely with my hon. Friend. Patients in his area—both buildings to which he referred are expected to open to patients around the end of this year—as well as in the rest of North Staffordshire and throughout the country will benefit from the new facilities, which focus on their well-being as well as treatment for illnesses. The House might be interested to know that the LIFT scheme is delivering new primary care facilities in some of the most deprived areas of the country, resulting in improved health care for patients in areas of greatest need: 75 per cent. of the most deprived primary care trust areas are part of an NHS LIFT scheme.

Health Expenditure (Manchester)

6. Mr. Keith Bradley (Manchester, Withington) (Lab): If he will make a statement on the effects of using the results of the 2001 census on health expenditure in the city of Manchester. [216971]

The Minister of State, Department of Health (Mr. John Hutton): Revenue funding has been allocated to primary care trusts using the 2001 census since 2003. For the 2006–07 and 2007–08 allocations, population data have been revised to take account of undercounting and projected increases in populations. As a consequence, Central Manchester PCT, North Manchester PCT and South Manchester PCT will receive increases of 26.4, 21.7 and 28.2 per cent. respectively, compared with a national average increase for all PCTs of 19.5 per cent. for the same period.

Mr. Bradley: I am grateful for that answer. The people of Manchester hugely welcome the incredibly large increases for the three PCTs, although they were concerned about the population base because of the Office for National Statistics failing to count the people of Manchester properly and missing out 20,000 people who required health care in the city. I clearly welcome the fact that my right hon. Friend has now made the adjustment to that baseline figure. Can he confirm that
 
22 Feb 2005 : Column 141
 
any shortfall in previous years' budgets that is due to that failure will be properly reflected in the budget allocations for future years?

Mr. Hutton: Yes, I can give my right hon. Friend the absolute assurance that that will be so, using the data for the allocations for 2006–07 and 2007–08. He might also be interested to know, as might my other hon. Friends who represent Manchester, that, in addition to those resources, we have put into the baseline budgets for all the Manchester PCTs £20 million of capacity building resources. That was included originally in 2003 on a non-recurrent basis. Essentially, that means that an additional £8 million has gone into the baseline budget of the Manchester PCTs.

Mr. Graham Stringer (Manchester, Blackley) (Lab): I am grateful to my right hon. Friend for that answer, or at least I think I am. Can he confirm that his answer on the budget for the Manchester PCTs from 2007 onwards—he says he will adjust the baseline—is in contradiction to the letter that he sent me about three weeks ago, in which he said that he would not change the baseline? If it is, I welcome it; if not, I look forward to continuing the discussion with him on Friday afternoon in the Adjournment debate.

Mr. Hutton: We have not retrospectively adjusted the PCTs' budgets in relation to the undercount that my right hon. Friend the Member for Manchester, Withington (Mr. Bradley) referred to earlier. What we have done, as he asked me to confirm, is put right that undercounting for 2006–07 and 2007–08. That has informed the revenue allocations for the Manchester PCTs for 2006–07 and 2007–08.

Tony Lloyd (Manchester, Central) (Lab): My right hon. Friend will be aware that people in Manchester are genuinely very grateful and that they recognise the enormous amounts of money that this Government are putting into health generally, but will he reflect on the fact that we in Manchester still face some of the most entrenched problems of health inequality? My constituents, like those of my Manchester colleagues, will die younger than others and be sicker for large parts of their life. In that context, it is difficult for us to accept that, because of a failure of the ONS, moneys were withdrawn and will not be replaced. Will he seriously consider whether that is fair to a population who are, by all accounts, deprived in health terms?

Mr. Hutton: I can only say to my hon. Friend that Manchester PCTs are getting some of the biggest increases in resources that they have ever had. That is because of the additional resources that are available to the NHS and because we have also targeted additional resources on Manchester to deal precisely with the concerns that he has raised about the health inequalities gap, which separates Manchester from the rest of the country. It is true that a baby boy born in Manchester today will live seven years less than a baby boy born in Dorset. That is totally unacceptable. My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State is making £500 million of additional investment available this year to provide support in respect of the problems to which my hon. Friend rightly draws attention.
 
22 Feb 2005 : Column 142
 

Special Needs

7. Bob Russell (Colchester) (LD): What his policy is on ensuring that those with physical disabilities and learning difficulties who attend hospital for treatment have their special needs taken into consideration. [216972]

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health (Dr. Stephen Ladyman): The Government are committed to patient and user-centred hospital services that are accessible for all.

Bob Russell: May I invite the Minister to visit Colchester general hospital to see some exciting, pioneering work that is being undertaken by disability nurse specialists? I believe that it is the first such hospital in the country to have such an appointment. It is funded by the John Grooms disability charity and the Rank foundation for two years. The work undertaken by disability nurse specialist Chrissie Wiseman has been a particular success story, not just for patients with physical disabilities but in terms of financial savings to the NHS. Will he accept an invitation to come and see this pioneering work, with the intention of rolling it out across all hospitals in the United Kingdom?

Dr. Ladyman: I am forced to begin by breaking the habit of a lifetime and being nice to a Liberal Democrat. I must thank the hon. Gentleman not only for bringing this scheme to my attention and letting my office know about it but for the praise that he has given to such an excellent initiative. If we want hospital services to be genuinely built around people's needs, we must mainstream our thinking about people with disabilities and ensure that services are designed that are really appropriate to them. The scheme in Colchester that he has outlined is an excellent initiative and a good model for the future. It is also a good example of the contribution that the voluntary sector can make to the health service. I congratulate everybody who is involved with it and look forward to being able to visit it at some point in the future.

Mr. Tom Clarke (Coatbridge and Chryston) (Lab): In thanking my hon. Friend for his excellent work in this field, may I ask him whether he is aware of the letter that appeared in The Independent on 2 February, signed by a number of distinguished experts in health care? It pointed out that, in terms of preventable mortality, people with learning disabilities are four times more likely to suffer than the rest of the population. Will he therefore consider annual health checks for people with learning disabilities and perhaps an inquiry that is sensitive to the fact that those figures impact on an important group of patients?

Dr. Ladyman: I thank my right hon. Friend for his words. I do not recollect seeing the letter to which he refers, but I am well aware of the issue. He is absolutely right that mortality levels for people with learning disabilities are much higher than for the rest of the population, and other factors are now coming into play: for example, a high proportion of people with Down's syndrome are now reaching retirement age, and a much higher proportion of them have Alzheimer's and forms
 
22 Feb 2005 : Column 143
 
of dementia. What he says is absolutely right, and we need to consider health checks for people with learning disabilities. We are working on that in the Department at the moment, and we are consulting interested bodies such as Mencap on how we can best implement it. We want to move ahead on this issue.

Rev. Martin Smyth (Belfast, South) (UUP): May I support the pressure applied by the right hon. Member for Coatbridge and Chryston (Mr. Clarke), and ask the Minister about the extent to which the implementation of such good intentions is being scrutinised? It is important that that is spread around, especially with regard to the good news from Colchester. Will he bear it in mind that some of the most difficult cases are those with hidden disabilities, such as those who have gone to waiting rooms, not heard their names called and been harangued afterwards because they did not answer?

Dr. Ladyman: The hon. Gentleman is absolutely right. That is unacceptable, and I am afraid that it does happen. Whether it is in relation to people receiving treatment in primary care or in hospitals, we must root that out and resolve such issues. The "Valuing People" support team is actively engaged with all local health authorities, and is trying to ensure that the messages in that White Paper are being implemented. We try to keep pressure continually on this area. Of course, where best practice is identified, such as the John Grooms service in Colchester if it proves to be the success that we believe it will, we shall ensure that it is well disseminated among the rest of the health service.

Dr. Brian Iddon (Bolton, South-East) (Lab): Will my hon. Friend join me in congratulating the Down's Syndrome Association on the launch of its health alert campaign in February 2002? With the help of St. George's hospital medical school in London, it has produced a website that is used to train medical students and other health professionals to combat discrimination against Down's syndrome people and others with learning difficulties in the national health service.

Dr. Ladyman: I certainly join my hon. Friend in congratulating the association. That is yet another example of the contribution that the voluntary sector can make to the health service—which is why I am keen for the sector to maintain its involvement, and why my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State has said publicly that he wants it to be involved more.

The education programmes that the Down's Syndrome Association is promoting with medical students are vital. Only when all health professionals really understand the needs of people with learning and other disabilities will we start to make progress in cracking this problem.

Dr. Julian Lewis (New Forest, East) (Con): Will the Minister guarantee that when people with physical or mental disabilities have to stay in NHS hospitals, they will at least have the benefit of being admitted to single-sex wards? Given that the Government have failed to keep their pledge to eliminate mixed-sex wards—

Mr. Speaker: Order. This is far too wide of the question.
 
22 Feb 2005 : Column 144
 

---