§ Ms. Harmanasked the Secretary of State for Social Services (1) if he is satisfied with the enforceability of standards, including those relating to care and health in old peoples' and nursing homes registered under the Health and Social Services and Social Security Adjudications Act 1983; and if he will make a statement;
(2) how many nursing and old people's homes are now registered under the Health and Social Services and Social Security Adjudications Act 1983 and earlier legislation; how many were so registered five years previously; how many people are now in registered homes; and how many were in such homes five years previously;
(3) how many old people's and nursing homes have been deregistered under the Health and Social Services and Social Security Adjudications Act 1983 and previous legislation in each county for each of the last 10 years;
(4) how many of his Department's employees are available in each county to inspect old people's and nursing homes registered under the Health and Social Services and Social Security Adjudications Act 1983.
§ Mr. John PattenAt present old people' homes are registered and inspected by local authorities under the Residential Homes Act 1980 whose provisions are to be superseded later this year by provisions of the Health and Social Services and Social Security Adjudications Act 1983 with revised regulations and a code of practice. Nursing homes are registered and inspected by district health authorities under the Nursing Homes Act 1975, as amended by the 1983 Act prospectively and by earlier measures.
We are satisfied that the new arrangements will make it easier for these authorities to secure the maintenance and improvement of standards in these homes including those relating to care and health.
At 31 March 1983 it is estimated that there were in England and Wales 4,673 registered homes for elderly people and for physically handicapped people — a breakdown between the two types of home is not available—with 71,006 residents aged 65 and over, compared with 3,057 homes and 50,285 residents at 31 March 1978.
Premises subject to registration with health authorities under the Nursing Homes Act 1975 include private hospitals offering medical and surgical facilities as well as homes providing nursing care for elderly patients. At 31 December 1982 there were 1,261 such institutions in England and Wales with 36,025 beds, compared with 1,148 institutions and 31,136 beds at 31 December 1977.
Information about the number of staff that authorities have available to inspect homes is not held centrally. Nor at present is that about cancelled registrations, but later this year a national list of people whose registrations are cancelled is to be set up.
§ Mr. Pikeasked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will list by counties in England (a) the number of registered private old people's and nursing homes and (b) the number of places in such homes in 1979 and subsequent years.
§ Mr. John PattenFor nursing homes information is not available in the form requested. The following information relates to all premises registered under the Nursing Homes Act 1975, including private acute822W hospitals, and, because these premises are registered with health authorities, not local authorities, relates to regional health authorities rather than counties.
Number of nursing homes* Number of places in nursing homes Regional Health Authority 1980 1981 1982† Northern 22 713 711 750 Yorkshire 73 1,917 2,004 2,165 Trent 77 1,792 1,806 2,132 East Anglian 34 751 775 753 North West Thames 53 3,471 3,588 2,486 North East Thames 68 1,502 1,479 2,754 South East Thames 199 4,970 4,918 5,252 South West Thames 153 4,362 4,371 4,284 Wessex 131 2,367 2,436 2,473 Oxford 56 1,933 1,825 1,960 South Western 133 2,724 2,815 3,108 West Midlands 81 1,964 1,982 2,292 Mersey 74 1,799 1,791 1,868 North Western 60 2,097 1,994 2,239 England 1,214 32,362 32,495 34,786 Note: There are no statistics available for 1979. * At 31 December 1982. † 1982 figures are not directly comparable because of RHA boundary changes resulting from NHS restructuring. I will let the hon. Member have the information about old people's homes as soon as possible.