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22 Mar 2005 : Column 761W—continued

Long-term Care

Mr. Byrne: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate he has made of the cost of implementing the recommendations of the Royal Commission on Long Term Care in each year from 2005–06 to 2010–11; and if he will make a statement. [223059]

Dr. Ladyman [holding answer 21 March 2005]: In England, the Government has accepted each of the recommendations of the Royal Commission on Long Term Care except the recommendation to provide free personal care in all settings. Making personal care free for everyone carries a very substantial cost but would not raise the standard or range of services available; the estimated cost for 2003–04 is £1.5 billion.

Free personal care would not help the poorest in society, who receive means tested support nor would it help the sickest, whose bills are paid by national health service continuing care arrangements. Free personal care does not cover all residential care costs and people in residential care would still be expected to contribute to board and lodging costs if personal care was made free.

The estimated costs for future years are shown in the table. They take account of demographic change, in terms of numbers of older people by age, gender, household type and housing tenure. They assume that cost of care will rise by 2 per cent. per year in real terms, in line with average earnings. As with any projections, the figures should only be taken as broad estimates of the cost because of the uncertainty of projecting over such a long time scale.

	£ billion
2005–06	1.75
2006–07	1.9
2007–08	2.05
2008–09	2.25
2009–10	2.45
2010–11	2.65

Mental Health Care

Mr. Best: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the funding per capita for mental health services in Leeds, North-West for (a) over-65s and (b) under 65s is for 2004–05. [223217]

Miss Melanie Johnson: The information requested is not collected centrally.

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what targets his Department has for expanding the availability of cognitive behavioural therapies for patients with mental illness. [222040]

Ms Rosie Winterton: We have no specific targets for cognitive behaviour therapies. However, the national service framework (NSF) for mental health, published in 1999, sets out the national standards for mental
 
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health; what they aim to achieve, how they should be developed and delivered and how to measure performance in every part of the country. Following this, the NHS Plan, published in 2000, set plans and targets for investment and reforms in the National Health Service in England. In addition, the Department's guidance, published in July 2004, entitled Organising and Delivering psychological therapies", addresses issues for local services wanting to deliver a better quality or more readily accessible effective psychological therapies including cognitive behaviour therapies.

Copies of these publications are available from the Library or from the Department's website at http://www.dh.gov.uk/PublicationsAndStatistics/fs/en

Mr. Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many trained medical doctors have been employed in mental health facilities in Lancashire in each year since 1997. [222084]

Miss Melanie Johnson: The information is not available in the format requested.

Midwifery

Mr. Baron: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what discussions he has had with (a) NHS organisations and (b) other interested bodies on adopting the Independent Midwives' Association's Community Midwifery Model; if he will adopt the Model across the NHS; and if he will make a statement. [222643]

Dr. Ladyman [holding answer 18 March 2005]: I met the Independent Midwives' Association (IMA) last year. Following that meeting, officials have been working with the IMA to investigate the feasibility of using the model in the national health service. That process is continuing.

MRSA

Mr. Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health for what reasons his Department decided that data collected for MRSA rates under the mandatory surveillance system should be published every six months; on what date this decision was made; what representations he received from (a) NHS organisations and (b) other interested bodies in support of publishing data under the mandatory surveillance system at six monthly intervals; if he will publish all data collected under the mandatory surveillance system since April 2001 for intervals of six months; and what plans he has to publish data under the mandatory surveillance system at intervals of three months. [221348]

Miss Melanie Johnson [holding answer 14 March 2005]: The Department decided to publish data from the mandatory methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) surveillance system on a six-monthly basis so that the public could be informed more
 
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frequently about the record of their local national health service trusts. The decision was taken in February this year, after consulting the Health Protection Agency, to ensure this would not over-burden specialist NHS resources and that data published at this frequency would be meaningful

The tables published on 7 March 2005 include all the data collected through the mandatory MRSA bloodstream infection surveillance system since 2001, set out in six-monthly intervals. The Department has received no other representations on this issue and there are no current plans to publish this data on a quarterly basis.

The tables are available on the Department's website at www.dh.gov.uk/assetRoot/04/10/55/18/04105518.pdf and have been placed in the Library.

Nevirapine

Mr. Colman: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to his answer of 23 February 2005, Official Report, column 693W, on nevirapine, when he expects the British HIV Association will issue new guidance on the use of nevirapine to prevent mother-to-baby transmission of HIV/AIDS. [222588]

Miss Melanie Johnson: We understand that the British HIV Association will publish new guidelines on the management of HIV infection in pregnant women and the prevention of mother-to-child transmission in July 2005.

NHS Estates

Mr. Oaten: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans he has to restructure NHS estates. [222958]

Mr. Hutton [holding answer 18 March 2005]: The decision to abolish NHS Estates was announced in a Press Release issued by the Department on 22 July 2004. The final closure date will be 30 September 2005.

A number of the agency's policy functions will be transferred to the Department, including NHS ProCure 21 and decontamination. Responsibility for national health service advisory services will transfer to strategic health authorities. The National Patient Safety Agency will take on the implementation of programmes concerning food and cleaning, and certain design related projects.

Inventures trading services are likely to be disposed of through a managed closure.

NHS Expenditure

Hugh Bayley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what he estimates the NHS expenditure per weighted head of population will be in north and east Yorkshire and Northern Lincolnshire strategic health authority in 2004–05. [222271]

 
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Miss Melanie Johnson: The information requested is not yet available. Data for 2004–05 will be available in the autumn.

NHS Research

Mr. Jack: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what role the University of Warwick has played in determining the formula for calculating future receipts of the Blackpool, Wyre and Fylde Hospital Trust. [223092]

Mr. Hutton: The University of Warwick was commissioned to advise on the geographic variation in staff costs. This work has contributed to the new system of financial flows, called Payment by Results, national health service trusts are paid according to a national tariff.

Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital

Dr. Gibson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps he has taken to prevent the development of a two tier employment situation in the areas of cleaning, catering and associated services at the Norfolk and Norwich university hospital. [217716]

Mr. Hutton: The Government has announced a major extension of the Local Government Two Tier Code on Workforce matters to the wider public sector, including the national health service. With some limited exemptions, the Code will apply to all new and re-tendered service contracts which involve transferred staff, and aims to ensure that employees are treated fairly, regardless of whether they are employed directly by the NHS or a service provider.

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