§ Mrs. MayTo ask the Secretary of State for Health how many care home beds there were, broken down by local authority in England in each year since 1997. [42237]
§ Jacqui SmithInformation on the total number of residential care places by Local Authority for the years 1997 to 2001 is shown in Table 1. Information on nursing care beds by Health Authority is shown in Table 2.
§ Mr. PatersonTo ask the Secretary of State for Health how many care homes have closed in(a) Shropshire and (b) the West Midlands since 1997. [44677]
§ Jacqui Smith[holding answer 21 March 2002]: The information on the number of residential and nursing care homes in Shropshire and West Midlands is shown in the table at 31 March each year. A copy has been placed in the Library.
§ Mr. BurstowTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment his Department has made of the extent to which people are inappropriately placed in(a) residential care homes and (b) nursing homes; and what steps he is taking to ensure appropriate placements. [45627]
§ Jacqui SmithThe Audit Commission's report "The coming of age", published in 1997 and subsequent work by the Department of Health, confirmed that better assessment and the development of preventative and rehabilitative services, could lead to more appropriate and effective permanent placements of state-funded individuals in residential care and nursing homes.
Since then through the NHS Plan and the National Service Framework for Older People, the Department has introduced a single assessment process to ensure that individual's needs are assessed in the round, and funded the development of a range of preventive and intermediate care services. These developments will help to ensure that older people and other adults, wherever possible, are only admitted to residential accommodation when necessary.