HC Deb 16 December 1996 vol 287 cc453-4W
Mr. Madden

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is the expenditure on the prison medical service for the current year; what is the projected expenditure over each of the next three years; and what proportion of such expenditure is devoted to the costs of drug treatment. [9169]

Miss Widdecombe

Responsibility for this matter has been delegated to the Director General of the Prison Service, who has been asked to arrange for a reply to be given.

Letter from Richard Tilt to Mr. Max Madden, dated 16 December 1996: The Home Secretary has asked me to reply to your recent Question asking what is the expenditure on the Prison Medical Service for the current year; what is the projected expenditure over each of the next three years; and what proportion of such expenditure is devoted to the costs of drug treatment. The delivery of the health care to prisoners in accordance with set standards has been devolved to prison establishments. Governors must therefore allocated appropriate resources from within their establishment budgets. For this reason it is not possible centrally to differentiate health care staff cost from the overall Prison Service budget, nor forecast precise future expenditure. The expenditure for specialist services and medical suppliers is however known, and for the last financial year is set out in the attached table.

Health care expenditure 1995–96
£ million
Locums 4.15
Dentist 1.90
Opticians 0.47
Psychiatrists 1.44
Medical/pharmacy supplies 4.45
Total 12.42
For drug treatment and testing initiatives, the following money was secured from the 1995 Public Expenditure Survey.

£million
1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1990–00
Testing 4,880 6,090 7,340 7,340
Treatment 5,440 5,571 5,710 5,710
Total 10,320 11,661 13,050 13,050
These monies are in addition to that already being spent by prisons on existing rehabilitation programmes.

Mr. Madden

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department for what reasons Dr. Rosemary Wool's appointment as chief medical officer of the prison medical service ended; when Dr. Wool left the service; and if he will make a statement. [9204]

Mr. Howard

Dr. Wool was due to retire on her 60th birthday, the normal retirement age for Home Office employees. As arrangements to find a successor had not been completed by then, Dr. Wool was granted an eight month extension of service and retired on 31 March 1996. A permanent successor has yet to be appointed and the post is currently filled on a temporary basis.