HC Deb 11 December 2001 vol 376 cc709-10
9. Ms Karen Buck (Regent's Park and Kensington, North)

What recent assessment he has made of the health care needs associated with homelessness. [19663]

The Minister of State, Department of Health (Mr. John Hutton)

The NHS is fully committed to providing access to health care on the basis of need. The health care requirements of homeless people are being addressed through local health improvement plans, personal medical services pilots focusing specifically on the homeless, and general medical services development schemes. In addition, the Department has provided additional funding to support the needs of homeless people with mental health problems in London.

Ms Buck

Is my hon. Friend aware of the significant contribution that has been made by Kensington, Chelsea and Westminster health authority to the work of the rough sleepers unit, especially in the provision of much needed mental health services? That has come at a considerable cost to the health authority, which has sustained the bill for mental health services, sometimes at the cost of displacing local people from those services. Will he undertake to give sympathetic consideration to the bid that the health authority is putting together to provide a long-term answer to mental health services, partly to relieve the strain on my local health authority but also to guarantee the long-term sustainability of the action to tackle rough sleeping?

Mr. Hutton

I can give my hon. Friend the assurance that we will look sympathetically at those proposals. The more work we do on homelessness and mental health, the more we uncover substantial unmet need. It is part and parcel of the work that the Government are doing to ensure that the resources are in place to respond to the need once it has been identified. My understanding is that the regional office is already in discussions with the trust to consider the question of how additional resources might be used to help to deal with the problem. I will take my hon. Friend's comments seriously and get in touch with her in the near future.

Mr. Henry Bellingham (North-West Norfolk)

Is the Minister aware that one of the problems that homeless people face is the time it takes to get a CT scan in hospital? I have had many letters from constituents who complain about how long it has taken to get a scan in the Queen Elizabeth hospital in King's Lynn. What will the right hon. Gentleman do about it?

Mr. Hutton

It will be a combination of things, as I am sure the hon. Gentleman understands, including more investment, more staff and more training. We are making significant resources available to improve the range of diagnostic equipment that supports the needs of his and all our constituents.