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Infection Control

Mr. Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will summarise the results of the (a) national observational study of the effectiveness of the cleanyourhands campaign and (b) cluster-randomised controlled trial of the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of feedback in intensive care units and acute general medical wards; and what plans she has to commission further research on compliance with hand hygiene in the NHS. [23033]

Jane Kennedy: The research projects to which the hon. Member refers began earlier this year. The results of the national observational study will become available in 2006, and final results from the randomised controlled trial in 2008.

The Department does not at present have plans for further research on compliance with hand hygiene.
 
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Influenza

Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people in (a) Herefordshire, (b) Worcestershire and (c) England have received a free influenza vaccine. [24939]

Ms Rosie Winterton: The first monitoring uptake data for Staffordshire and England will be available on 14 November.

Information (South Asian Patients)

Mr. Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps she is taking to improve the quality of information provided to patients, with particular reference to patients of South Asian origin. [23108]

Ms Rosie Winterton: Standards are the main drivers for continuous improvement in quality in health care. Independent inspections by the Healthcare Commission are designed to drive up standards by identifying areas for improvement.

Last year, the Department published "National Standards, Local Action". This sets out that primary care trusts should ensure that adequate patient information and support processes are set up and, particularly, provide targeted support that addresses the needs of individuals and communities, including black and minority ethnic groups.

The Department also published "Better information, better choices, better health" at the end of last year; a three-year strategy to enhance accessibility and quality of health care information for everyone. The strategy contains measures to improve the information available, as well as support to access and use it, in particular focusing on groups that have difficulty accessing health care information, including patients of South Asian origin.

Kettering General Hospital

Mr. Hollobone: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many (a) in-patients and (b) out-patients have been treated at Kettering general hospital in each year since 1997. [24750]

Ms Rosie Winterton: The information requested is shown in the following table.
Number of finished consultant episodes (FCEs) and patients at the Kettering general hospital national health service trust for each year between 1997–98 and 2003–04

	FCEs	Patient counts
1997–98	59,793	34,983
1998–99	62,318	36,976
1999–2000	63,485	37,414
2000–01	64,701	38,685
2001–02	64,101	39,724
2002–03	60,141	37,168
2003–04	65,229	39,888

Notes:
1. A FCE is defined as a period of admitted patient care under one consultant within one healthcare provider. Please note that the figures do not represent the number of patients, as a person may have more than one episode of care within the year.
2. Patient counts are based on the unique patient identifier HESID. This identifier is derived based on patient's date of birth, postcode, sex, local patient identifier and NHS number, using an agreed algorithm. Where data are incomplete, HESID might erroneously link episodes or fail to recognise episodes for the same patient. Care is therefore needed, especially where duplicate records persist in the data. The patient count cannot be summed across a table where patients may have episodes in more than one cell.
3. Figures have not been adjusted for shortfalls in data—that is, the data are ungrossed. Hospital episode statistics, NHS Health and Social Care Information Centre.




 
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Mr. Hollobone: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many beds have been available at Kettering general hospital in each year since 1997, broken down by major category. [24751]

Ms Rosie Winterton: The information requested is shown in the following table.
Average daily number of available beds by sector, Kettering general hospital national health service trust, 1997–98 to 2004–05

	Total	General and acute	Acute	Geriatric	Mental illness	Learning disability	Maternity
1997–98	481	446	446	0	0	0	35
1998–99	482	440	440	0	0	0	42
1999–2000	482	435	435	0	0	0	47
2000–01	496	445	445	0	0	0	51
2001–02	517	452	452	0	0	0	65
2002–03	533	468	468	0	0	0	65
2003–04	527	470	470	0	0	0	57
2004–05	512	456	456	0	0	0	56

Source:
Department of Health form KH03.

Market Research

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much has been paid to (a) Opinion Leader Research and (b) market research companies by her Department in each of the last three years. [24315]

Jane Kennedy: A list of expenditure on market research in each of the last three years could be provided only at disproportionate costs.

The Department is committed to consulting and involving the public to help inform both policy formulation and the delivery of better quality public services. Responsive public services are an important part of the Modernising Government initiative.

The Department only conducts or commissions market research when it is justified by the needs of the policy programme and is the most economical, efficient and effective way to achieve the purpose.

Mental Health

Dr. Gibson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health which recommendations of the Government's working group on the Mental Health Act 1983 were (a) adopted and (b) rejected; and if she will list the members of the working group. [22202]

Ms Rosie Winterton: An expert committee was appointed in October 1998 to review the Mental Health Act 1983. This was chaired by Professor Genevra Richardson and the committee is generally referred to as the Richardson Committee.

The Richardson Committee produced its Report in July 1999, which was published along with the November 1999 Green Paper, "Reform of the Mental Health Act 1983", which sought views on the various recommendations of the Richardson Committee. The Green Paper was followed by the White Paper, "Reforming the Mental Health Act 1983" and a draft Bill for consultation in 2002.

The responses from this consultation and further work resulted in a revised draft Mental Health Bill, which was published in September 2004. This was the subject of pre-legislative scrutiny, which resulted in a report in March 2005, a response to which was published in July 2005. The recommendations from the Richardson Committee have, therefore, been subject to considerable discussion and development over the course of the last five years and it is not possible to assess each of the recommendations in terms of whether they have been adopted or rejected.

The Richardson Report lists all members. This is available on the Department's website at www.dh.gov.uk/assetRoot/04/06/26/14/04062614.pdf

Mr. Graham Stuart: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate she has made of the number of people likely to be eligible for placement under community treatment orders under proposals in the draft Mental Health Bill. [23152]

Ms Rosie Winterton: The Government's modelling assumption is that around 10 per cent. of treatment orders will be community-based in the early years of the new Mental Health Act. Ensuring that professionals use involuntary community-based treatment appropriately is more critical than arbitrarily specifying the number of people who will be subject to community treatment orders.

Mr. Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to her Department's press release dated 20 October, on capital investment in mental health services, whether capital investment will be made available to NHS mental health trusts which are anticipating year-end financial deficits on their income and expenditure account. [25302]

Ms Rosie Winterton: We expect the £130 million capital investment in mental health services announced on 20 October to be distributed to national health service mental health trusts in 2006–07 and 2007–08, based on need and investment plans. Until this allocation process is under way, we cannot say which trusts will receive this funding.
 
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Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what action is being taken by the Government to improve the standards of mental health hospitals. [26473]

Ms Rosie Winterton: We published the national service framework for mental health (NSF) in 1999, which sets out a comprehensive vision for transforming mental health care in England to 2009. Since 1999, we have increased spending on mental health services by more than £1 billion, from £4.07 billion in 1999–2000 to £5.09 billion in 2003–04. On 20 October, we announced a £130 million capital investment programme, which will be allocated to strategic health authorities from 2006.

This funding will help to update acute in-patient wards and psychiatric intensive care units (PICUs). Standard five of the NSF, "Hospital and Crises Accommodation", is dedicated to mental health hospitals and it signals our determination to improve the experience of service users who require hospital or PICU admission. This has been followed by departmental guidance, "National Minimum Standards for General Adult Services in PICUs and Low Secure Environments" (2002). The National Institute of Mental Health in England is implementing this guidance as one of its core programmes.

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