§ Lord Dubsasked Her Majesty's Government:
How satisfied they are about the levels of co-operation between National Health Service hospitals and local authority social services departments when dealing with the treatment of patients with multiple sclerosis. [HL5504]
Lord Hunt of KingsWe have put in place a range of measures to encourage the National Health Service and local authorities to work together more effectively so that patients and people in need of care get the high quality and co-ordination of service they need. These include using existing Health Act flexibilities covering over 100 schemes and involving over £1 billion of 221WA resource. Primary care trusts are also providing a unique opportunity to foster closer working between the NHS and local government, particularly social services.
As the next stage in this evolution, the NHS Plan announced a new kind of organisation, called care trusts. The first four care trust became operational in April 2002. They will enable the even closer integration of health and social care services and will build on existing joint working.