§ Mr. WebbTo ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will estimate the number of pensioners in resident nursing homes receiving expense allowances of £16.05 or less in(a) Great Britain and (b) south Gloucestershire. [30722]
§ Jacqui SmithThese data are not held centrally but, with a small number of exceptions, all council-supported residents in care homes are entitled to the personal expenses allowance.
On 31 March 2001, 65,482 people were supported by councils in nursing homes in England, and 379 people were supported in nursing homes by South Gloucestershire council. The figures for Scotland and Wales are the responsibility of the devolved Administrations.
§ Mr. BurnsTo ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people in(a) residential and (b) nursing home care (i) were self-funders, (ii) paid a proportion of the cost toward their care and (iii) had all their costs paid for by the state in each of the last five years. [24640]
§ Jacqui Smith[holding answer 8 January 2002]: The number of people who are resident in residential care homes and paying for their own care is not collected centrally. A survey conducted in June 2001 estimated that around 42,700 residents in general and mental nursing homes were paying wholly for their own care.
Information is not available separately for those who paid a proportion of the cost toward their care and those who had all their costs paid for by the state. Information on the numbers of people in residential and nursing care homes who had all or part of their costs paid for by councils with social services responsibilities is given in the following table.
Residents in residential and nursing care homes supported by councils with social services responsibilities1, England, as at 31 March (rounded numbers) Year Supported residents in residential care homes Supported residents in nursing homes 1997 170,300 66,100 1998 176,500 72,900 1999 181,200 73,500 2000 185,200 73,900 2001 183,500 71,800 1 A supported resident is a resident whose fees are paid in part or in full by a council with social services responsibility Source:
Department of Health return SR1
§ Mr. LuffTo ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on changes in bed numbers in the care home sector in Worcestershire since 1997. [26406]
137W
§ Jacqui SmithThe information is in the following table:
The number of places in residential care homes and the number of registered nursing beds in the Hereford and Worcester1 area between 1997 and 2001 At 31 March Number of places Number of registered beds2 19973 5,552 3,383 1998 5,413 3,654 1999 5,543 3,980 2000 5,392 3,526 2001 5,080 3,365 1 Registered beds in general and mental nursing homes, hospitals and clinics. Information is presented on nursing beds for the two health authorities of Herefordshire and Worcestershire (equating to the former local authority district of Hereford and Worcester). 2 Information is presented for the former local authority district of Hereford and Worcester to ensure details of residential places given in the table are on consistent boundaries. (At 1 April 1998 the unitary authority of Herefordshire and the shire county area of Worcestershire were created). 3 Information for registered nursing beds for 1997 relates to the period 1 October 1996 to 31 March 1997. Source:
Department of Health annual returns
We are aware of concerns about capacity problems in the care home sector. On 9 October we published "Building Capacity and Partnership in Care". This sets out clear policy objectives to improve the planning and commissioning of services in partnership with the independent sector, in a way which will see standards rise within a better range of services. This will benefit service users and allow better discharge planning.
I am advised that Worcestershire county council's allocation of £713,000 from the Government's "Cash for Change" initiative will be used to fund additional residential and nursing home placements, a home care discharge scheme and one off payments to support independent sector homes cost pressures.
§ Mr. BurstowTo ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to his answer of 16 January 2002,Official Report,column 379W, on residential nursing home beds, how many residential and nursing home beds were available, broken down by (a) constituency, (b) health authority and (c) region in (i) 1997 and (ii) the most recent year for which figures are available. [30273]
§ Jacqui SmithInformation on residential and nursing homes is not available at constituency level. Information on residential care homes is collected at local authority level, while information on nursing care homes is collected at health authority level. The number of residential care beds cannot be shown at health authority level due to inconsistent geographical boundaries. My reply of 8 January 2002,Official Report, columns 656–58W, gives the number of residential care home beds for each local authority and the number of nursing care home beds for each health authority at 31 March 1997 and 31 March 2001. Information on the total number of residential and nursing care home beds at 31 March 1997 and 31 March 2001 by national health service region is shown in the table.
138W
Number of residential and nursing care home beds in England by NHS region At 31 March Rounded numbers NHS regions (i) 1997 (ii) 2001 Residential care home beds England 338,100 341,200 Northern and Yorkshire 42,900 45,300 Trent 33,700 37,200 West Midlands 33,000 32,100 North-west 47,700 49,800 Eastern 32,900 35,400 London 30,100 29,300 South-east 70,100 67,300 South-west 47,600 44,800 Nursing care home beds England 197,500 186,800 Northern and Yorkshire 28,600 27,000 Trent 23,600 20,100 West Midlands 19,600 20,000 North-west 35,500 31,500 Eastern 16,900 14,800 London 15,400 18,100 South-east 31,700 31,400 South-west 26,200 24,100 Source:
Department of Health's annual returns