§ Mr. BurstowTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what his Department's policy is on the introduction of single rooms in NHS hospitals in England. [167415]
§ Mr. HuttonThe proportion of single rooms in new hospital developments should aim to be 50 per cent., but should not fall below 20 per cent. and must be a higher percentage than the facilities they are replacing. The policy and design guidance for the provision of single rooms in mental health accommodation is 100 per cent.
§ Mr. BurstowTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what the cost of the patient environment and assessment team inspections of hospital food and cleanliness was in each year since the inspections began. [167423]
§ Mr. HuttonSince the patient environment action team (PEAT) programme commenced in 2000, over 3,000 inspections have been undertaken involving over 700 assessors. The PEAT programme is a key element of national health service inspection and performance assessment processes, and the results of PEAT feed directly into the star ratings managed by the Healthcare Commission.
With very few exceptions, PEAT assessors are volunteers whose costs are met by their host organisations. Therefore, while there are costs associated with this work, they are not collected centrally.