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18 Oct 2005 : Column 904W—continued

GP Practices

Mr. Love: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many single-handed GP practices there are in (a) England, (b) Greater London and (c) Edmonton; and if she will make a statement. [16100]

Mr. Byrne: The latest information available on the number of single-handed practices, as at 30 September 2004, are as follows:

Area	Number
England and Wales	2,046
London	491
Enfield Primary Care Trust	23

Health Services (Investment)

Mr. Pelling: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the percentage change of investment in real terms in (a) mental health services and (b) health services as a whole was between 1999–2000 and 2002–03. [16407]

Ms Rosie Winterton: Information is not available in the requested format. Information on the increase of the hospital and community health services (HCHS) budget and its proportion spent on mental health services between 1999–2000 and 2002–03 is shown in the table.

	Gross expenditure in cash terms (£ million)	Percentage change of investment in real terms
1999–2000
Mental health	3,411	34.8
HCHS	27,633	27
2002–03
Mental health	4,598	34.8
HCHS	35,087	27

Source:
HCHS.

Influenza

Sir John Stanley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) if she will increase the number of treatment courses of Tamiflu above 25 per cent. of the population; and if she will make a statement; [17109]

(2) on what date the Government placed their contract for their order of Tamiflu; how many treatment courses have been received; and when she expects delivery of treatment courses for 25 per cent. of the population to be completed. [17110]

Caroline Flint [holding answer 13 October 2005]: The contract for the order of 14.6 million treatment courses of Tamiflu was placed in March. Deliveries began in August and our delivery schedule indicates that we should have received 2.5 million treatment courses by the end of October, and that our stockpile will be complete by September 2006.

We have purchased enough antivirals to treat the 25 per cent. of the population who may become ill. This figure was based upon the best available advice. We do not currently expect that the order of Tamiflu will be increased. Antiviral provision is only one element of our
 
18 Oct 2005 : Column 905W
 
strategy to deal with pandemic influenza. Other measures include providing guidance for health care workers, and the public, and working hard at accelerating vaccine production. As with all our contingency planning, we will continue to review this decision in light of any further information received.

Mental Health

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much of her Department's funding is dedicated to supporting mental health; and what plans there are to increase the funding committed to mental health. [16977]

Ms Rosie Winterton: Information is not available in the requested format. Revenue allocations are made to primary care trusts (PCTs) based on the relative needs of their populations. It is for PCTs to determine how to use the funding allocated to them to commission services to meet the health care needs of their local populations including mental health services. In the financial year in which the national service framework for mental health was published, 1999–2000, reported gross expenditure on mental health services as part of the hospital and community health services (HCHS) budget was £4,067 million. A further £696 million was spent as part of the personal social services (PSS) budget. By 2003–04, HCHS expenditure on mental health had risen to £5,088 million and PSS expenditure to £944 million. These figures are in 2003–04 prices and they do not include spending on people with mental health problems seen solely in primary care.

Lynne Featherstone: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps she is taking to improve the (a) quality and (b) quantity of (i) therapeutic and (ii) recreational activities for patients on acute psychiatric wards; and if she will make a statement. [16989]

Ms Rosie Winterton: The Department is continuing to implement the national mental health workforce strategy (2004) in order to increase the numbers of staff working in mental health settings and develop their skills further. We are also continuing to encourage service providers to widen the skills mix by supplementing the existing professional roles with new ones such as support, time and recovery workers.

The national service framework for mental health (1999) and the mental health policy implementation guide on adult acute inpatient care (2002) requires a flexible range of appropriate therapeutic and recreational resources and activities to be available in mental health in-patient settings. The latter requires the creation and maintenance of a therapeutic activity milieu to include evening and weekend activities and opportunities both on and off the ward which may include educational, social, daily living, artistic, recreational and leisure activities. The national minimum standards for general adult services in psychiatric intensive care units and low secure environments (2002) requires all patients to have access to fresh air and secure external space and space for regular exercise with appropriate supervision.
 
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Midwives/Nurses

Mr. Baron: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans she has to give midwives more flexibility in how and when they work. [16659]

Mr. Byrne: The Improving Working Lives" standard makes it clear that every member of staff in the national health service, including midwives, is entitled to work in an organisation which demonstrates its commitment to more flexible working conditions. It is for employers and staff to agree on flexible working patterns that meet the needs of individuals, while continuing to ensure the delivery of high quality patient care. Further information is available from Improving Working Lives in Midwifery: a guide for midwives and managers". A copy is available in the Library.

Mr. Gauke: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many applications were made in 2004–05 for the retraining of qualified nurses wishing to return to the nursing profession after a career break; and how many training places were available. [16055]

Mr. Byrne: The Department no longer collects this information, but in the previous five years, 18,000 former nurses, midwives and health visitors returned to work in the national health service.

Oestrogen

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment she has made of whether oestrogen is present in the food chain; and if she will make a statement. [17342]

Caroline Flint: Oestrogen is a naturally occurring sex hormone in animals. Consequently, it will be present in food products of animal origin.

Trust Deficits

Mr. Waterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the financial deficits are in the (a) East Sussex Hospital Trust, (b) Eastbourne Downs Primary Care Trust and (c) East Sussex County Healthcare Trust; and what they were at the same point in the last financial year. [17243]

Caroline Flint: The latest year for which audited financial data is available is 2004–05. The table shows the 2003–04 and 2004–05 final outturn figures for East Sussex Hospital Trust, Eastbourne Downs Primary Care Trust (PCT), and East Sussex County Healthcare Trust.
£000

	Final outturn
Organisation	2003–04	2004–05
East Sussex Hospital Trust	-1,787	-4,983
Eastbourne Downs PCT	-3,533	-964
East Sussex County Healthcare Trust	-1,025	9

Notes:
1.2004–05 Figures are provisional until signed off by the National Audit Office/chief executive.
2.Final outturn is under or overspend against revenue resource limit for PCTs and surplus or deficit for NHS trusts.




 
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Unborn Children

Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what advice her Department gives about the earliest point in its development when an unborn child will experience pain; and if she will make a statement. [16575]

Caroline Flint: Concerns that the fetus might experience pain during investigative or therapeutic procedures or procedures to terminate a pregnancy prompted the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG) to examine this issue. The RCOG's report (1997) concluded that before 26 weeks gestation the nervous system has not developed sufficiently to allow the fetus to experience pain.

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