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Schizophrenia
Mr. Heald: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people living in the community with schizophrenia are on long-term medication. [13850]
Jacqui Smith: The information requested is not available centrally. In 2000, 219,000 prescription items were dispensed in the community in England for antipsychotic depot injections.
Social Services Websites
Dr. Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the cost was of preparing and producing the new Social Work and Social Care website. [24441]
Jacqui Smith: The cost of preparing and producing the Social Work and Social Care website including site maintenance until October 2002, is £49,358. The website has attracted over 11,000 visitors to the site since its inception on 19 October 2001.
Strategic Health Authorities
Fiona Mactaggart: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how he will ensure that chief executives designate of the new strategic health authorities involve local communities and primary care trusts in the development of franchise plans. [26599]
Mr. Hutton: In developing three year franchise plans chief executives of strategic health authorities will be required to reflect the plans and targets of local primary care trusts, and to demonstrate how the health authority will ensure local community involvement.
28 Jan 2002 : Column 141W
Plans will be based on a specification issued by the Department. All strategic health authorities will be required to meet the specification.
Hearing Aid Services Project
Mr. Randall: To ask the Secretary of State for Health from what date the Hillingdon/Harrow health trust will be included in the modernising NHS Hearing Aid Services Project. [26939]
Jacqui Smith: I announced on 24 December 2001 that a further £20 million would be made available in 2002–03 so that a further 30 national health service sites can join the modernising hearing aids project during that year. Decisions on which sites will become involved in the project next year will be made shortly.
Ashworth Hospital
Mr. Illsley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many incidents of assault by members of staff at Ashworth hospital on (a) patients of Ashworth hospital, (b) visitors to Ashworth hospital and (c) members of the public were reported each of the last three years. [27201]
Jacqui Smith: Recorded allegations of assault on patients, visitors and members of the public, by members of staff at Ashworth hospital, for each of the last three years are as listed:
- On patients
- 1999—10
- 2000—14
- 2001—10
- On visitors
- 1999—none
- 2000—none
- 2001—one
- On members of the public
- 1999—none
- 2000—none
- 2001—none.
Ashworth hospital treats all allegations very seriously. An investigation was undertaken into each of these allegations, but none were substantiated.
Private Finance Initiative
Matthew Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate he has made of the proportion of PFI contracts made by his Department where an amount in excess of 90 per cent. of the capital value of the asset is recouped by the lessor out of the capital element of lease payments over the lifetime of the contract concerned; and if he will make a statement. [27699]
Mr. Hutton: The Department does not calculate or collect data on this basis.
The balance sheet treatment of private finance initiative schemes is determined by guidance developed by Her Majesty's Treasury (Technical Note 1) and the Accounting Standards Board (FRS5), which was issued in 1998. Neither of these refer to or rely on the numeric test referred to in the question.
28 Jan 2002 : Column 142W
A small number of early national health service PFI schemes (total approximately £250 million) have been classed as on balance sheet. These schemes reached financial closure before 1998. Although they were classed as off-balance sheet under the tests in force at the time, they were reassessed following the issue of the 1998 guidance and re-classified as being on balance sheet. The test in force prior to 1998 relied on estimates of the variability of shareholders' return, not estimates of payments recouped by lessors.
General Practitioners (Essex)
Mr. Jenkin: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many general practitioner vacancies there are in (a) Tendring primary care trust and (b) Colchester PCT. [28499]
Mr. Hutton: There are five general practitioner vacancies within Tendring primary care trust. Three vacancies are in the process of being advertised and the fourth vacancy will be advertised after 1 April 2002. The remaining vacancy is the subject of discussions which are currently taking place between Tendring PCT and the surgery.
There are two general practitioner vacancies in Colchester primary care trust both of which are in the process of being recruited to.
In all cases interim cover is being provided by locum or salaried general practitioners.
Age Discrimination
Ms Atherton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what plans he has to address barriers to effective implementation of Government policy on age discrimination; [28837]
- (2) if he will implement the recommendations in the King's Fund report on anti-age discrimination policies; [28836]
(3) what recent assessment he has made of the extent of ageism in the health and social services. [28835]
Jacqui Smith: The National Service Framework for Older People, published in March 2001, sets the elimination of age discrimination in accessing national health service or social care as a priority. To help achieve this, it provides a programme of actions and milestones to be achieved over the next 10 years. Much work has already been undertaken that will underpin the development of this programme. This includes:
- Older people and their representative organisations have been included within the national service framework's national and local implementation structure, giving them a voice in prioritising and planning.
Detailed guidance on the development of a single assessment process across health and social care, that focuses on identifying and meeting the needs of each individual, was issued for consultation on 16 August 2001, and the final version will be published shortly.
Audits of age-related policy in the NHS, as required by the NSF October 2001 milestone have been undertaken. Detailed information on the audits has been provided by over three-quarters of the NHS organisations involved. An initial analysis of returns on the audits undertaken in the NHS shows that age discrimination is not endemic in the health service's written policies, but rather reflects the varying local development of
28 Jan 2002 : Column 143W
- policy and practice. The audit provides for the development of local plans to review and tackle any age-discriminatory written policies found by April 2002 and will inform the development of a national approach to benchmark a range of services or treatments important in the care of older people.
Detailed guidance on Fair Access to Care Services, covering a full review of adult social care eligibility criteria, was issued for consultation on 20 July 2001, and the final version will be published shortly.
Children's Rights Director
Mr. McNamara: To ask the Secretary of State for Health further to his answer of 1 May 2001, Official Report, column 575W, on the Children's Rights Director, what the terms of reference are of the position of Children's Rights Director; what responsibility the director will have for liaison with persons or bodies carrying out similar or equivalent functions within the devolved institutions; what responsibility the director will have for assisting in the preparation of the UK report to the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child; who will have the lead role in its preparation; and what progress has been made in the appointment of a director. [29245]
Jacqui Smith: Roger Morgan has been appointed as Children's Rights Director at the National Care Standards Commission. Draft regulations setting out the proposed functions of the Children's Rights Director were published for consultation on 17 January 2002. The Children and Young People's Unit have the lead role in the preparation of the United Kingdom report to the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child.
Carers
Mr. Gareth R. Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what further action he is taking to help carers. [28822]
Jacqui Smith: We are increasing the carers grant to £85 million in 2002–03 and to £100 million in 2003–04 to ensure that more carers are able to receive breaks. We are developing guidance on voucher schemes for short term breaks in consultation with external stakeholders so that the remaining provisions of the Carers and Disabled Children Act 2000 can be commenced in April this year. We are also revising the hospital discharge workbook, which will help national health service staff to support carers.
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