§ Matthew GreenTo ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what plans the Government have to ensure that social workers, health workers and other people working with people suffering from schizophrenia receive better training and support; [47918]
(2) what additional support and training intitiatives have been implemented since 1997 for social workers, health workers and other people working with people suffering from schizophrenia. [47923]
§ Jacqui SmithThe Department of Health does not set the curricula for pre-registration and undergraduate health professional education. This is a matter for the professional regulatory bodies to determine.
It is the responsibility of local managers of NHS organisations locally to determine both the work force and the skill mix they require to provide local health services and whether or not to fund training or continuing professional development (CPD) programmes for their staff. We are taking steps to ensure that training for all NHS staff relates closely to national service frameworks.
The key drivers, principles and opportunities for education, training and CPD in the NHS are set out in the recently issued "Working Together—Learning Together, a Framework for Lifelong Learning for the NHS". The strategy is focused on ensuring all staff are equipped with the skills and knowledge to work flexibly in support of patients and that they are supported to grow, develop and realise their potential and enhance their careers.
On social care the Department has supported the new qualification for mental health staff, Certificate in Community Mental Health Care, that has been developed by the Mental Health Foundation and was launched in June 2000. This certificate is a vocational qualification aimed at practitioners in the mental health field who do not have a professional qualification relating to mental health. It is linked to NVQ Level 3.
§ Matthew GreenTo ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what measures the Government have put in place since 1997 to improve the financial integration and communication among Government agencies to help ensure a better service for people suffering from schizophrenia and their carers; and what assessment he has made of improvements as a result; [47922]
(2) what plans the Government have to improve the financial integration and communication among Government agencies to help ensure a better service for people suffering from schizophrenia and their carers. [47921]
§ Jacqui SmithThe Government's aim is to develop the whole range of mental health services so that all people can access the right services at the time when they need them. "The National Service Framework for Mental Health" (NSF), published in September 1999, has set the agenda for a comprehensive modernisation of mental health services.
1181WThe document "Effective Care Co-ordination in Mental Health Services", issued in October 1999, stressed the need for all agencies to work together to meet clients' needs for health and social care in an integrated way. This principle applies across all mental health services, not just those for people with schizophrenia, although the NSF and the related NHS Plan commitments do identify people with severe mental illness as a high priority for improved services.
The new services referred to in the NHS Plan are in the early stages of implementation but it is envisaged that, by 2004, 100,000 people will benefit from crisis resolution services, 20,000 from assertive outreach services, 7,500 from early intervention services and 5,000 from mental health in-reach services in prisons. Many of the recipients of these services will have schizophrenia.