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27 Oct 2008 : Column 658W—continued
Mental Health Services: Greater London
Jeremy Corbyn: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what guidance he has issued to London local authorities on the provision of move-on accommodation for residents of specialist mental health hostels in London. [230023]
Phil Hope: The Department has not issued any guidance to London local authorities on the provision of move-on accommodation for residents of specialist mental health hostels in London.
Jeremy Corbyn: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what guidance he has given to (a) primary care trusts and (b) local authorities in London on (i) the assessment of mental health needs in their catchment areas and (ii) the allocation of appropriate levels of funding. [230027]
Phil Hope: Since 1 April 2008, local authorities and primary care trusts (PCTs) have been under a statutory duty to produce a Joint Strategic Needs Assessment (JSNA) to establish the current and future health and wellbeing needs of their population, which includes mental health needs. Guidance on Joint Strategic Needs Assessment was published in December 2007, following consultation on the Commissioning Framework for Health and Wellbeing. This has been placed in the Library and is available on the Department's website at:
Responsibility for the provision of all national health service services, including mental health treatments, now rests with PCTs. Decisions about spending on treating specific conditions, including mental health, are made by each PCT and it is for PCTs, in conjunction with their strategic health authorities, to plan and develop services according to the needs of local communities across England.
Mental Health Services: Islington
Jeremy Corbyn: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many residents of the London Borough of Islington have received assistance for mental illness in each year since 1998; how many in each year received (a) GP counselling, (b) specialist counselling, (c) residence in specialist hostels and (d) hospital accommodation; and what estimate he has made of the level of support required in 2008-09. [230026]
Phil Hope: Information is not available in the format requested. The following table shows the number of finished mental health consultant episodes for patients where the local authority of residence was Islington for each year since 1998 to 2006-07 which are the latest data available.
| Finished consultant episodes | |
| Notes: Finished Consultant Episode (FCE): A finished consultant episode (FCE) is defined as a period of admitted patient care under one consultant within one health care provider. FCEs are counted against the year in which the FCE finishes. 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. Consultant Main Specialty: This defines the specialty under which the consultant responsible for care of the patient is contracted. Care is needed when analysing HES data by specialty, or by groups of specialties (such as acute). Trusts have different ways of managing specialties and attributing codes so it is better to analyse by specific diagnoses, operations or other recorded information. Consultant main specialties included: 710 = Mental illness 711 = Child and adolescent psychiatry 712 = Forensic psychiatry 713 = Psychotherapy 715 = Old age psychiatry (available from 1990-91). Data Quality: Hospital Episode Statistics (HES) are compiled from data sent by more than 300 NHS trusts and primary care trusts (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. Assessing growth through time: HES figures are available from 1989-90 onwards. During the years that these records have been collected by the NHS, 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 out-patient settings and may no longer be accounted for in the HES data. This may account for any reductions in activity over time. Source: Hospital Episode Statistics (HES), the NHS Information Centre for health and social care. | |
Mentally Ill Staff
Lynne Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what information his Department has gathered on the effect of its policies and practices on the recruitment, development and retention of employees with mental illnesses within (a) his Department and (b) the public sector bodies for which he has responsibility; and what use has been made of that information. [228547]
Mr. Bradshaw:
As prescribed by best practice, the Department uses the social model of disability to monitor
adverse/positive impact of its policies. This limits the amount of specific evidence that can be drawn about mental health issues through routine employee monitoring exercises. However, the Department gathers relevant information through analysis of sickness absence statistics; reviews of trends emerging from casework; and regular liaison with the staff disability network. These data are used to inform the development of new policies and the review of those in existence. The policies which directly affect the recruitment, development and retention of employees with mental illness are those covering recruitment and selection, training and performance management. All policies are equality impact assessed and build in ‘reasonable adjustment’ provision for people with disabilities, including mental health issues. There is now a separate mental health policy which promotes positive attitudes in this area and provides guidance which is designed to enable employees to remain in the work-place, wherever possible. These policies and processes apply to the Department’s agencies.
Mentally Incapacitated: Protection
Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what the role of the No Secrets Guidance Programme Board is; [228874]
(2) how many times the advisory group established as part of his Department's consultation on the review of guidance on developing and implementing multi-agency policies and procedures to protect vulnerable adults from abuse has met to date; and what plans there are to convene meetings during the consultation period; [228875]
(3) if he will publish the information collected by his Department during the listening events organised to inform the drafting of the consultation on the proposed review of guidance on developing and implementing multi-agency procedures to protect vulnerable adults from abuse; [228877]
(4) which Minister authorised the issue of the consultation document on his Department's proposed review of guidance on developing multi-agency policies and procedures to protect vulnerable adults from abuse; [228879]
(5) what recent discussions his Department has had with (a) Scottish Executive officials and (b) non-governmental organisations in Scotland on the (i) enactment and (ii) implementation of legislation to protect vulnerable adults. [228915]
Phil Hope: On 16 October 2008, as part of the review of the local safeguarding guidance, “No Secrets”, the Government launched a public consultation, “Safeguarding Adults: A consultation on the Review of the ‘No Secrets’ Guidance”. A copy has already been placed in the Library and on the Department's website at
The Department is leading the review, but it is a joint consultation document with the Ministry of Justice, the Solicitor General and the Home Office. It is authorised by all four Ministers.
The role of the Programme Board is to oversee the review of “No Secrets”, including the consultation. The Advisory Group has met three times so far and it will meet at key points throughout the review.
The aim of the listening events was to draw out key themes and issues in order to identify the key questions that the review should address. These have been published in the consultation document.
Departmental officials spent a day in Scotland meeting a range of stakeholders, including Scottish officials, to discuss the Scottish legislation.
NHS: Drugs
Mr. Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate his Department has made of possible medicine shortages in the winter of 2008-09; and which drugs he expects will be most affected. [228271]
Dawn Primarolo: There are a number of reasons why medicines shortages may occur and often it is not possible to predict them. The Department and the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry have published joint best practice guidelines in order to help manage shortages if they arise. These guidelines give guidance to companies and recommend that companies communicate with the Department as soon as possible about impending shortages that may have an impact on patient care.
NHS: Standards
Mike Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps he plans to take to improve performance in those trusts rated double weak in the Healthcare Commission’s Annual Health Check for 2007-08. [228992]
Mr. Bradshaw: Action has already been taken to address performance in the small number of ‘double weak’ organisations. Organisations have been asked to draw up action plans—to be agreed with strategic health authorities (SHAs) and to be published on their website by 23 October. These plans will detail how action is being taken to improve performance. In addition, Executives will be meeting with senior departmental officials, accompanied by the relevant SHA (and primary care trust where relevant) chief executives.
All action plans will be monitored by the SHA and progress will form part of the performance management discussions between SHAs and the Department.
From April 2009, those ‘weak’ organisations failing to demonstrate improvement will also be subjected to intervention under the NHS Performance Regime.
Pharmacy: Hertfordshire
Mike Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many licensed pharmacies there are in (a) Hemel Hempstead and (b) West Hertfordshire primary care trust. [229659]
Phil Hope: This information is collected only at primary care trust (PCT) level. There were 123 community pharmacies in West Hertfordshire PCT providing national health service pharmaceutical services at 31 March 2007—the latest period for which information is available.
Pharmacy: General Practitioners
Mike Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many GP dispensaries there are in (a) Hemel Hempstead and (b) West Hertfordshire primary care trust. [229655]
Phil Hope: Data are only available by primary care trust (PCT) area. The latest available data from the Exeter Payment System show that West Hertfordshire PCT area had three dispensing general practitioner practices in 2006-07.
Pharmacy: Licensing
Mike Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many pharmaceutical licences have been awarded under section 13 of the NHS (Pharmaceutical Services) Regulations 2005 in (a) Hemel Hempstead and (b) West Hertfordshire primary care trust. [229644]
Phil Hope: This information is collected only at primary care trust (PCT) level. Four pharmacy applications under Regulation 13 of the 2005 Regulations were granted in the period 2005-06 to 2006-07 in West Hertfordshire PCT and its predecessor organisations (Hertsmere, Watford and Three Rivers, Dacorum and St. Albans and Harpenden PCTs). Information for 2007-08 is not yet available.
Portsmouth Hospitals Trust: Compensation
Sir Peter Viggers: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much compensation was paid to patients of the Portsmouth Hospitals Trust in each of the last three years; and what legal costs were incurred in each case. [230775]
Ann Keen: The information requested is in the following table and was obtained from the NHS Litigation Authority.
| Compensation and legal costs paid out by Portsmouth Hospitals NHS Trust by year | ||||
| £ | ||||
| Damages | Defence costs | Claimant costs | Total paid | |
Primary Care Trusts: Finance
Paul Rowen: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 14 October 2008, Official Report, columns 1180-3W, on primary care trusts: finance, what definition his Department uses of top-slicing; and how much was top-sliced from primary care trusts to strategic health authorities at the end of the (a) 2006-07 and (b) 2007-08 financial years. [230470]
Mr. Bradshaw:
A top-slice is where a proportion of a primary care trust's (PCTs) allocation is held within a local strategic reserve to ensure the delivery of the overall financial position within that health economy. Since 2006-07, strategic health authorities (SHAs) have
been able to determine and agree with PCTs the arrangements for top-slicing or voluntary lodgements to be held within the local strategic reserve.
I also refer the hon. Member to the written answer I gave the hon. Member for South Cambridgeshire (Mr. Lansley) on 6 October 2008, Official Report, column 454W, which provides top-slice figures held by SHAs at the end of 2006-07 and 2007-08 financial years.
Smoking
Dr. Kumar: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what additional steps the Government plan to take to encourage smokers to stop smoking. [229856]
Dawn Primarolo: The Government have committed to developing a new national tobacco control strategy to build on the achievements made since the publication of the "Smoking Kills" White paper in 1998 (which has already been placed in the Library).
The "Consultation on the future of tobacco control", which has already been placed in the Library, closed on 8 September and is the first stage in developing this new strategy. The Department is currently considering responses to this consultation.
A publication date for the new strategy will be announced in due course.
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