HC Deb 17 June 1994 vol 244 cc683-4W
Mr. Alfred Morris

To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people in the United Kingdom have been diagnosed as having AIDS dementia.

Mr. Sackville

Up to the end of March 1994, 410 of a cumulative total of 9,025 AIDS cases reported in the United Kingdom had HIV encephalopathy at the time of their diagnosis. This may not have been the sole AIDS defining illness present at the time the case was reported to the communicable disease surveillance centre. An unknown number of persons diagnosed with AIDS go on to develop HIV encephalopathy at a later stage. The number of such cases would not be known to CDSC since reports give only those AIDS indicator diseases present at the time of the AIDS diagnosis.

Mr. Alfred Morris

To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many bedspaces for people with AIDS there are currently(a) in London and (b) nationally for (i) respite care, (ii) residential care, (iii) nursing care, (iv) terminal care and (v) AIDS dementia care.

Mr. Sackville

Information is not available centrally.

Details of facilities for people with AIDS are contained in regions' AIDS (Control) Act reports, copies of which are available in the Library.

Additionally, the 1994 directory of hospice and palliative care services, compiled by the hospice information service and published by the Cancer Relief Macmillan Fund, lists all available hospice and palliative care services in the United Kingdom. A number of these facilities now cater for people with AIDS-related illness and some have been established specifically for them. A copy of the directory is available in the Library.

Mr. Alfred Morris

To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many bed spaces for people with AIDS are being developed(a) in London and (b) nationally for (i) respite care, (ii) residential care, (iii) nursing care, (iv) terminal care and (v) AIDS dementia; and what other services are currently available for people with AIDS dementia.

Mr. Sackville

Information in the form requested is not available centrally.

Regional and district health authorities plan all their services for people with HIV/AIDS in the light of identified need.

The Department is currently funding a research project to identify the extent of need for services for people with AIDS dementia in the Thames area. The research findings are due to be reported early in 1995.

Mr. Alfred Morris

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what training services are being provided for staff working with people with AIDS dementia, and by whom.

Mr. Sackville

The Department makes available topsliced funding for HIV/AIDS prevention—£49.2 million in 1994–95—which includes provision for the training of a wide range of staff in the care of people with HIV disease.

English National Board course 280 includes training for nurses on identification and responses to the psychiatric needs of people with HIV. The Bethlem royal hospital and the Maudsley hospital have developed a national course specifically for nurses working with people with AIDS dementia. The course was developed with Department of Health support and students from throughout the United Kingdom have attended. The educational pack on HIV for doctors, funded by the Department, contains a module on the needs of a person with AIDS-related psychiatric conditions.

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