§ Mr. LuffTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what recent assessment he has made of the number of beds inappropriately occupied in(a) acute hospitals and (b) community hospitals in Worcestershire; and if he will make a statement. [8038]
§ Jacqui SmithAs at week ending 7 October 2001 it has been reported that the number of delayed transfers of care patients occupying national health service beds in the Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust was 74, and 19 in the Worcestershire Community and Mental Health NHS Trust.
Worcestershire social services and the local health economy are working collaboratively to address existing needs. Worcestershire county council is due to receive an allocation of £713,000 from our 'cash for change' initiative. Worcestershire health authority also received an extra £382,000 in April to help it prepare for winter pressures.
Table 1: Department of Health vacancies survey, March 2001: Vacancies in NHS trusts by region—three month vacancy rates1,2 Percentage England3 Northern & Yorkshire Trent West Midlands North West Eastern London South East South West Specific consultant specialties4 Forensic psychiatry 5.2 0.0 0.0 0.0 18.2 0.0 8.5 7.7 5— General psychiatry 7.8 8.2 4.0 11.0 12.2 5.8 7.5 10.2 1.3 Learning disabilities 13.3 13.5 26.3 8.3 21.7 10.3 12.2 11.1 6.7 Old age psychiatry 9.3 10.0 11.4 7.9 14.6 16.1 2.3 8.5 0.0 Qualified nursing, midwifery and health visiting staff Community learning disabilities 1.7 0.2 0.0 2.5 0.2 0.0 3.2 4.6 1.4 Other learning disabilities 3.4 4.7 1.3 4.2 0.8 1.0 6.2 5.0 5.1 Community psychiatry 2.6 1.1 1.1 1.2 1.7 0.2 7.9 3.6 0.3 Other psychiatry 3.9 3.8 1.6 2.1 2.0 1.9 7.3 6.1 2.3 Qualified scientific, therapeutic and technical staff Clinical psychology 4.3 5.5 1.6 3.2 2.3 3.9 6.5 4.1 2.5 Psychotherapy 2.0 5.6 3.4 5.0 1.8 0.0 1.7 2.7 0.0 1 Three month vacancies are vacancies as at 31 March 2001 which trusts are actively trying to fill, which had lasted for three months or more (whole-time equivalents) 2 Three month vacancy rates are three month vacancies expressed as a percentage of three month vacancies plus staff in post from the September 2000 medical and dental and non-medical work force censuses (whole-time equivalent) 3 England percentages include staff from Special health authorities. 4 There are two other specialties (Child and adolescent psychiatry and psychotherapy) that were not separately identified in the vacancy survey and are therefore not included here, but are in the total consultant figures. 5 Figures based on less than 10 staff in post. Note:
Percentages rounded to one decimal place
Source:
Department of Health Vacancies Survey 2001