§ Mr. Martyn JonesTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans his Department has to tackle the specific problems of health care provision for the homeless; and if he will make a statement. [31850]
§ Mr. BowisHomeless people are entitled to the full range of health service provision and the weighted capitation formula used to calculate health authorities' allocations takes into account the number of officially homeless. From 1996–97, a new adjustment to the formula takes account of rough sleepers.
Homeless people can experience difficulty in accessing services to which they are entitled. The Department is therefore funding 26 projects in England to address this problem by providing general practitioner sessions in hostels and other places where homeless people gather. In addition, the homeless mentally ill initiative is providing 107W a high level of care and support for rough sleepers with mental health problems in London. In February the Government announced that a further £2 million a year was being made available to expand the initiative in London and a number of other centres.