Mental Health (Hansard, 21 May 2003)

§ Mr. Austin Mitchell
To ask the Secretary of State for Health what research he has commissioned to assess how far(a) inadequate treatment and (b) misdiagnosis based on a rigid biomedical diagnostic framework leads to (i) mental anguish, (ii) suicide and (iii) illegal drug use. [114322]

§ Jacqui Smith
The Department has not commissioned any such research.

§ Sandra Gidley
To ask the Secretary of State for Health what specific training(a) there is and (b) is planned for health practitioners which highlights gender differences in mental illness; what the training consists of; and when it is offered. [114534]

§ Jacqui Smith
Information on what specific training there is for health practitioners which highlights gender differences in mental illness, what the training consists of and when it is offered is not held centrally. The forthcoming implementation guidance for the women's mental health strategy will make recommendations that will assist services to develop local training initiatives. As part of developing an implementation programme to support this, we will need to work with the workforce development confederations to consider what the education and training needs are of the mental health workforce around gender and gender differences.
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§ Sandra Gidley
To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans he has to amend the mental health national service framework to reflect gender specific recommendations. [114536]

§ Jacqui Smith
There are no plans to amend the mental health national service framework to reflect gender specific recommendations. The forthcoming implementation guidance for the women's mental health strategy focuses on the mainstreaming of gender and women's mental health and forms part of the Department's commitment to address inequalities in the delivery of mental health services and to tackle discrimination and disadvantage.