§ Mr. Paul MarsdenTo ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) if he will make a statement on promoting mental health services for(a) the disabled and (b) ethnic minorities; [86148]
(2) what plans he has to develop a research strategy for overseeing service solutions for (a) ethnic minorities and (b) the disabled, with mental health problems. [86145]
§ Jacqui SmithThe Department will be launching a comprehensive framework for black and minority ethnic mental health later this year. The framework will cover accessibility of services and relevant research. The National Institute for Mental Health in England (NIMHE) has set up a national black and ethnic minorities mental health innovations and research and development expert group to support the NIMHE research network to support implementation of the framework.
The Government White Paper, "Valuing People: A New Strategy for Learning Disability for the 21st Century", is clear that the national service framework for mental health applies to all adults of working age, including people with learning disabilities who have a mental illness. They should be enabled to use generic psychiatric services whenever possible. Each local service should have access to an acute assessment and treatment resource for the small number of individuals with significant learning disabilities and mental health problems who cannot appropriately be admitted to general psychiatric services, even with specialist support.
"A Sign of the Times", a consultation document on modernising mental health services for people who are deaf or deaf and blind, was published in July 2002. It set out proposals aimed at making a significant difference to the lives of deaf people with mental health problems whose needs were previously overlooked.
§ Lynne JonesTo ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to his answer of 7 January 2003,Official Report, column 199W, on mental health services, what assessment he has made of the contribution that a code of conduct for mental health professionals and users can make to improvements in the treatment of users of mental health services. [90702]
§ Jacqui SmithThe Government have made no assessment of the contribution of professionals' codes of conduct to mental health care and treatment. Although we believe codes of conduct can contribute to the maintenance of high standards, and have a place among the several systems in place to support the highest quality care, responsibility for their development and use lies with the statutory regulatory bodies and professional organisations.