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4 Jun 2008 : Column 1026W—continued
Implementation of the Department’s research strategy “Best Research for Best Health: A new national health research strategy” is resulting in an expansion of our research programmes and in significant new funding opportunities for health research. Copies of the strategy have been placed in the Library. The National Institute for Health Research (NIHR), set up as part of that implementation process, has awarded a £2 million programme grant to support research on improving physical health and reducing substance use, particularly cannabis use, in severe mental illness. Research on cannabis use and psychosis
will also form part of the work programme of the NIHR’s South London and Maudsley NHS Trust and Institute of Psychiatry Biomedical Research Centre which the Department began funding in April 2007.
The Department has also recently agreed to commission a review of studies on the incidence and prevalence of psychosis and schizophrenia.
The information requested on people being treated for psychosis arising from cannabis use is not available centrally.
The Department is concerned about the negative impact of cannabis use and intoxication on acute mental health patients and on mental health services.
The Department advises that cannabis use is harmful for people with existing mental health problems, being linked with relapse and resistance to treatments.
Chronically Sick: Neurology
Anne Milton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) if he will review the 2005 National Service Framework for Long-Term Neurological Conditions; [208225]
(2) what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the 2005 National Service Framework for Long-Term Neurological Conditions against its target of complying with the 2004 National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence’s clinical guideline for epilepsy. [208226]
Ann Keen: We have no current plans to review the National Service Framework (NSF) for Long-term Neurological Conditions. Copies of the NSF are available in the Library.
The NSF for Long-term Conditions has no target for compliance with the guidance produced by the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence on the diagnosis and management of epilepsy in adults and children.
NICE guidance consists of recommendations for health professionals on diagnosis and treatment of epilepsy. Health professionals are free to use their clinical judgment, in consultation with the wishes of the patient, to decide, on an individual basis, the most appropriate treatment options.
Epilepsy
Anne Milton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will review the 2003 Action Plan for Epilepsy. [208224]
Ann Keen: There are no current plans to review the “Improving Services for People with Epilepsy: Department of Health Action Plan in response to the National Clinical Audit of Epilepsy Related Death”. Copies of this publication are available in the Library.
Mental Health
Sandra Gidley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) how many doctors were diagnosed with mental health problems in each year since 1997; [208064]
(2) how many people were diagnosed with mental health conditions in each year since 1997, broken down by region. [208068]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: Information is not collected centrally about diagnoses for any condition in primary care, so reliable data is not available about the number of people, regardless of profession, who have been diagnosed with mental ill health.
One sixth of the population suffers from a common mental health problem every day and one in 100 people suffers from a serious mental illness such as psychosis.
Mental Health Services
Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of computerised cognitive behavioural therapy; [206389]
(2) how many patients received computerised cognitive behavioural therapy treatment delivered in each of the last three years. [206390]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: The effectiveness of computerised cognitive behavioural therapy (cCBT) has been assessed by the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE), which issued a technology appraisal in February 2006, indicating that this therapy can be effective in treating mild and moderate depression and the anxiety disorders of phobia and panic.
NICE also published its guidance “Computerised cognitive behaviour therapy for depression and anxiety” in February 2004. NICE will be consulting on review plans for this guidance in September 2008.
Data on the amount of patients who have received cCBT treatment delivered via computer in each of the last three years is not held centrally.
Whether a patient has received cCBT treatment would be recorded in individual patients’notes and by the various national health service, private and voluntary sector organisations providing such services.
Mental Health Services: Community Care
Anne Milton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) pursuant to the Answer of 7 May 2008, Official Report, column 1018W, on the mentally ill: community care, what assessment his Department has made of the availability of mental health advocacy for people subject to community treatment orders within strategic health authorities; [208236]
(2) what assessment his Department has made of the likely provision of independent mental health advocacy for patients discharged from hospital and subject to community treatment orders up to April 2009. [208237]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: The Department carries out mapping of mental health service provision across England, including advocacy services annually. The latest available details of advocacy provision in each strategic health authority (SHA) area are set out in the following table. This is general provision and will be available to people subject to community treatment orders and others:
| Mental health services: number of adult advocacy services in England by SHAs at 31 March 2007 | |
| SHA name | Number of services |
| Source: Service Mapping exercise | |
Mental Health Services: Islington
Jeremy Corbyn: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much was spent on mental health services in Islington in each year since 1997-98; and how many mental health patients from Islington were cared for (a) as in-patients and (b) through care in the community in each of those years. [207686]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: Information is not available in the format requested. Information is available about expenditure on secondary mental health services, where patients have been referred to specialist mental health services, but information about expenditure on primary mental health services, such as treatment by general practitioners, is not held.
Figures for expenditure on the commissioning of secondary mental health services in Islington for each year from 2000-01 to 2006-07 are set out in the following table. From 2000 to 2002, Camden and Islington health authority commissioned secondary mental health services for Islington. Since 2002, services have been commissioned by Islington primary care trust (PCT).
| Expenditure on the commissioning of secondary mental health services in Islington | ||
| Commissioning organisation | Financial year | Expenditure (£000) |
| Source: Audited Camden and Islington Health Authority summarisation forms 2000-01 and 2001-02; audited Islington PCT summarisation schedules 2002-03 to 2006-07. | ||
Regarding the number of mental health patients from Islington cared for as in-patients, the following table shows the number of hospital admissions for
mental health consultant specialities where the patient's PCT of residence is Islington for each year since 1997-98.
| Number of hospital admissions for mental health consultant specialities where the patient's PCT of residence is Islington | |
| Count of hospital admissions for mental health consultant specialities( 1) for patients whose PCT of residence was Islington. | |
| (1) Care is needed when analysing HES codes by speciality, or by groups of specialities, as trusts have different ways of managing specialities and attributing codes. The speciality classifications used to compile these data are: mental illness; child and adolescent psychiatry; forensic psychiatry; psychotherapy; and old age psychiatry. Notes: 1. Ungrossed Data Figures have not been adjusted for shortfalls in data (i.e. the data are ungrossed). 2. Assessing growth through time HES figures are available from 1989-90 onwards. During the years that these records have been collected by the national health service there have been ongoing improvements in quality and coverage. These improvements in information submitted by the NHS have been particularly marked in the earlier years and need to be borne in mind when analysing time series. Some of the increase in figures for later years (particularly 2006-07 onwards) may be due to the improvement in the coverage of independent sector activity. Changes in NHS practice also need to be borne in mind when analysing time series. For example a number of procedures may now be undertaken in outpatient settings and may no longer be accounted in the HES data. This may account for any reductions in activity over time. 3. Data Quality HES are compiled from data sent by over 300 NHS trusts, and PCTs in England. Data are also received from a number of independent sector organisations for activity commissioned by the English NHS. The NHS Information Centre for health and social care liaises closely with these organisations to encourage submission of complete and valid data and seeks to minimise inaccuracies and the effect of missing and invalid data via HES processes. While this brings about improvement over time, some shortcomings remain. 4. Finished admission episodes (FAEs) A FAE is the first period of in-patient care under one consultant within one health care provider. Admissions do not represent the number of in-patients, as a person may have more than one admission within the year. Source: Hospital Episode Statistics (HES), The Information Centre for health and social care. | |
Regarding the number of mental health patients from Islington cared for through care in the community, the following table shows the number of patients served by early intervention (EI) teams and assertive outreach (AO) teams and the number of treatment episodes delivered by crisis resolution (CR) teams for each year since 2001-02. It also shows the local community mental health team’s total caseload at the end of each financial year for 2002-03 and 2006-07 (this data collection was discontinued between 2003-04 and 2005-06). EI, AO and CR teams were introduced as part of the strategy set out in the “National Service Framework for Mental Health” (the NSF), published in 1999, to deliver mental health services in the community. Copies of the NSF are available in the Library.
| Number of patients in Islington served by EI and AO teams, number of treatment episodes delivered by CR teams and local community mental health team's total caseload | ||||
| Islington PCT | Camden and Islington Mental Health and Social Care Trust( 1) | |||
| Number of people served by an EI team | Number of treatment episodes delivered by a CR team( 2) | Number of people served by an AO team | Total caseload of the community mental health team at 31 March | |
| (1 )Camden and Islington Mental Health and Social Care Trust became Camden and Islington NHS Foundation Trust on 1 March 2008. (2 )The CR guidance was revised in 2005-06. The CR activity data for 2005-06 and 2006-07 show the number of home treatment episodes—patients who have more than one home treatment episode are counted more than once. Prior to that, the CR team data show the total number of people treated by the CR team. (3 )Denotes data not available. (4 )In 2001-02, data were collected on the number of people served by AO teams from Camden and Islington health authority, rather than Islington PCT. Note: The target dates for full establishment of these mental health teams was December 2003 for AO teams and December 2004 for EI and CR teams. Sources: Local planning delivery returns and mental health service mapping. | ||||
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