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27 Oct 2009 : Column 262W—continued


Community Care

Chris Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many adults in each age band received support under section 47 of the National Health Service and Community Care Act 1990 in (a) 2007, (b) 2008 and (c) 2009. [295858]

Phil Hope: The information is contained in the following table.

The total number of clients aged 18 and over in receipt of local authority funded community based services, by age band, as at 31 March.
Rounded
Community based services
At 31 March Age 18 to 64 Age 65 to 74 Age 75 and over Total

2007(1)

376,300

131,700

514,800

1,022,900

2008

395,000

139,100

522,300

1,056,300

2009(2)

401,400

135,800

509,900

1,047,100

(1 )In 2007 "overnight respite-client's home" was included within community based services provided to clients, from 2008 all respite care is now recorded as a service for carers rather than clients and is therefore not included in this data.
(2 )Data for 2008-09 are provisional.
Source:
Referral, Assessments and Packages of Care form P2s

Deficiency Diseases: Young People

Mr. Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many cases of scurvy were reported in each local authority area in each of the last five years; and how many such cases were in persons under 18. [295601]

Gillian Merron: The figures on the number of cases of scurvy reported are not held centrally.

The number of finished consultant episodes with a primary or secondary diagnosis of scurvy is shown in the following table.

The figures provided cover those patients treated in hospital with a diagnosis of scurvy at the national level.

Count of finished consultant episodes (FCEs)( 1) where there was a primary or secondary diagnosis( 2) of 'scurvy'( 3) , activity in English national health service hospitals and English NHS commissioned activity in the independent sector

FCEs( 1)

2007-08

94

2006-07

101

2005-06

68

2004-05

61

2003-04

72

(1) Finished Consultant Episode (FCE):
A FCE is defined as a continuous period of admitted patient care under one consultant within one health care provider. FCEs are counted against the year in which they end. It should be noted that the figures do not represent the number of different patients, as a person may have more than one episode of care within the same stay in hospital or in different stays in the same year.
(2) Number of episodes in which the patient had a (named) primary or secondary diagnosis. These figures represent the number of episodes where the diagnosis was recorded in any of the 20 (14 from 2002-03 to 2006-07 and seven prior to 2002-03) primary and secondary diagnosis fields in a HES record. Each episode is only counted once in each count, even if the diagnosis is recorded in more than one diagnosis field of the record.
( 3) Scurvy :
ICD10 Code E54.
Source:
Hospital Episode Statistics (HES), the NHS Information Centre for health and social care.

Dementia

Mr. Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when he plans to publish the results of his Department's review of anti-psychotic use in dementia care. [295602]

Phil Hope: The results of the review of anti-psychotic drugs for people with dementia will be published in November.

Douglas House

Mr. Ellwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans his Department has for the future of Douglas House residential home for people with severe mental disabilities; and if he will make a statement. [295169]

Phil Hope: Government policy is clear that everyone in England should have the opportunity to benefit from good support to live in the community.

"Our Health, Our Care, Our Say", published in November 2006, set out that, as community-based settings enable a greater degree of independence and inclusion and better health outcomes, all NHS campuses should close by 2010. A copy of the publication has already been placed in the Library.

We are advised that the chief executive of Bournemouth and Poole Primary Care Trust wrote to the hon. Member in detail on 21 September 2009 in response to his letter regarding concerns raised over the closure of Douglas House.

Haematology

Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when his Department plans to review the national haematology guidelines; and if he will make a statement. [295042]


27 Oct 2009 : Column 263W

Gillian Merron: The Department does not generally issue guidance on haematology. Professional guidance is usually provided by the British Committee for Standards in Haematology.

In 2003, the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) published guidance on Improving Outcomes in Haematological Cancers. This guidance makes recommendations on the organisation of services for patients with haematological cancers. NICE has not yet set a date for review of this guidance.

Health Services: Illegal Immigrants

Mr. Andrew Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Health under what circumstances illegal immigrants may obtain treatment under the National Health Service. [291971]

Phil Hope: Any person who wishes to receive national health service primary medical services can apply to a local general practice to register as a patient or as a temporary resident. However, under their contracts with their primary care trust the general practice can, where they have reasonable non-discriminatory grounds, decline an application, for example if they are not accepting new patients or because the prospective patient does not live within the practice boundary. Where an application is declined, the general practice must nevertheless provide as a term of their contracts any immediately necessary treatment for a period of up to 14 days free of charge.

Entitlement to free NHS hospital treatment is based on lawful and settled residence in the United Kingdom. Illegal immigrants are therefore subject to the National Health Service (Charges to Overseas Visitors) Regulations 1989, as amended, which set out a number of exemption from charge categories. Illegal immigrants are not exempt from charges except for certain services that are free to all, including treatment given inside an accident and emergency department or for certain infectious diseases.

Treatment which is clinically considered to be immediately necessary must never be withheld or delayed, although charges will still apply to illegal immigrants. Further, treatment that is clinically considered urgent enough that it cannot await the patient's return home, must also be provided, although hospitals should attempt to secure payment during the period before treatment is provided. Non-urgent treatment that can await the person's return home should not be given unless payment is received in advance.

Health Services: Voluntary Work

Mr. Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when he plans to publish the proposed strategy to support volunteering in health and social care. [295610]

Phil Hope: Building on last year's consultation "Towards a strategy to support volunteering in health and social care: Consultation", the Department has been working with stakeholders to agree a shared vision for volunteering in the context of the Government's wider strategy for improvement and reform across the health and social care system. We anticipate publishing a high-level strategy to support this in the new year.


27 Oct 2009 : Column 264W

HIV Infection

Ms Abbott: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps his Department plans to take to ensure that future funding for social services provision for HIV positive people takes account of (a) inflation and (b) predicted numbers of people diagnosed with HIV in the future. [295563]

Gillian Merron: Following the 2007 comprehensive spending review, the AIDS Support Grant, which provides a contribution towards the social care and support of people with HIV, was increased from £16.5 million, to £19.8 million in 2008-09, £21.8 million in 2009-10 and £25.5 million in 2010-11. Decisions on allocations beyond this period have not yet been made.

The AIDS Support Grant is allocated to individual authorities based on their HIV caseloads, updated annually, with a weighting of 30 per cent. towards women and children affected or infected by HIV. This recognises the increasing pressure of HIV among these groups.

Home Care Services

Mike Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 13 October 2009, Official Report, columns 808-09W, on home care services, which central budgets he plans to reprioritise. [295613]

Phil Hope: Decisions on reprioritisation have yet to be taken, but the Department is considering savings from lower use of management consultancy and advertising, and slower growth in lower priority research budgets.

Mental Health Services

Mr. Lancaster: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the outcomes of the use of cognitive behavioural therapy programmes in treating each category of mental health issue. [295901]

Phil Hope: The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) has made a prior assessment of the outcomes of using cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) by the national health service before making any recommendations about its use by the NHS in treating mental illness.

NICE currently recommends that the NHS offers CBT as a treatment for antenatal and postnatal mental health problems; antisocial personality disorder; anxiety; attention deficit hyperactivity disorder; bipolar disorder; borderline personality disorder; dementia; depression in adults, children and young people; drug misuse; bulimia; obsessive compulsive disorder; post-traumatic stress disorder; self-harming; and, schizophrenia.

We are increasing the availability of CBT in primary care through the Improving Access to Psychological Therapies programme (IAPT). Our plan is to have trained 3,600 more therapists who will help to provide 900,000 more people with access to psychological therapies by 2010-11. Of those completing treatment 50 per cent. are expected to recover.

All IAPT services are required to collect routine clinical outcome data at every session, so that clinical teams can evaluate the effectiveness of the service and so that patients can see and discuss their progress with their therapist. The data also enables primary care
27 Oct 2009 : Column 265W
trusts and practice based commissioners to commission psychological therapy services for the outcomes which they are expected to achieve.

New IAPT services collect the IAPT minimum data set, and a national data standard is currently being developed to enable the national collation of this data by 2011.

NHS: Compensation

Dr. Francis: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what criteria are used to determine ex-gratia payments to NHS patients who have experienced adverse consequences of NHS treatment. [295036]

Ann Keen: Chapter Five of the NHS Manual for Accounts contains guidance to the National Health Service on Losses and Special Payments, which includes the making of ex gratia payments. A copy of the current version of Chapter Five has been placed in the Library. An online version of the 2008-09 Manual is available from:

NHS: Finance

Mr. Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate he has made of the percentage of invoices paid by NHS hospitals within 10 days in the latest period for which figures are available. [295598]

Mr. Mike O'Brien: We do not currently collect such performance data.

However, David Nicholson, NHS chief executive, wrote to all NHS trust chief executives on 21 October 2008 asking them to examine and review existing payment practices and payment performance and to move as closely as possible to the 10-day payment commitment that has been set for Government Departments wherever practical. This message was reiterated in a further letter to NHS trust chief executives from David Nicholson on 18 May 2009.

NHS prompt payment performance against the 30 day payment target is reported in annual accounts. The 2008-09 accounts for NHS trusts recorded an 84 per cent. achievement against the 30 day payment target for non-NHS payments.

NHS: Negligence

Mr. Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 13 July 2009, Official Report, column 176W, on NHS: negligence, how much was spent in total on (a) claimant costs, (b) defence costs and (c) damages for (i) the closed claims in which claimant costs exceeded damages and (ii) all closed claims in each year. [294352]

Ann Keen: Following an internal review by the NHS Litigation Authority, an error was detected in Table 2 of the answer of 12 October 2009, Official Report, columns 736-37W, on NHS: Negligence. The following tables correct that error and provide the additional data requested.


27 Oct 2009 : Column 266W
Table 1: Payments made on clinical negligence claims where claimant costs were greater than the damages paid on claims closed 2004-05 to 2008-09 as at 30 August 2009
£
Year of closure Damages paid Defence costs paid Claimant c osts paid

2004-05

9,824,545

8,591,362

17,105,723

2005-06

10,957,214

8,475,960

19,786,927

2006-07

11,857,076

8,345,493

20,668,200

2007-08

18,385,285

11,371,170

31,878,502

2008-09

16,949,494

9,786,706

31,553,118

Total

67,973,614

46,570,691

120,992,471


Table 2: Payments made on all other clinical negligence claims closed 2004-05 to 2008-09 as at 30 August 2009
£
Year of closure Damages paid Defence costs paid Claimant costs paid

2004-05

358,508,722

43,504,736

58,017,881

2005-06

353,351,141

39,468,081

60,943,948

2006-07

275,848,011

33,366,925

53,294,121

2007-08

332,052,942

40,111,830

67,590,234

2008-09

289,238,325

36,480,285

69,616,778

Total

1,608,999,141

192,931,858

309,462,963


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