HC Deb 31 March 2003 vol 402 cc555-6W
Mr. Ruffley

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps his Department is taking to increase the number of nursing home beds in Suffolk. [104818]

Jacqui Smith

I understand that Suffolk county council has recently agreed a 5 per cent. fee increase in care home fees across the board. In 2002–03, a new investment of £92,000 enabled the council to provide 22 additional places in local council specialist provision for people with mental health needs.

Over the next three years, the Government will increase the funding for social services by an annual average of six per cent. in real terms. Councils can use

Jacqui Smith:

There are three current or completed Private Finance Initiative projects for Hull and East Yorkshire Hospitals National Health Service Trust.

The Maternity and Acute Development at Hull Royal Infirmary has a capital value of £22 million and enables the rationalisation of clinical services onto a major hospital site. The first patients are due to attend in early April 2003.

The reprovision of out-patient, radiology and urology services at Castle Hill in Cottingham, with a capital value of £8 million, was opened in spring 2002.

The Withernsea Community Hospital and Resource Centre, with a capital value of £3 million, opened in November 1998.

There is one planned PFI project for the trust. The development of a new integrated oncology and clinical haematology centre at Castle Hill Hospital has a capital value of £53 million and was put out to tender in November 2002.

David Davis

To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many patients were registered with NHS services in each of the last five years in the area covered by the Hull and East Yorkshire NHS Hospitals Trust. [105235]

Jacqui Smith

Information on the number of patients registered with the national health service is not available on an NHS trust basis. The table shows the number of patients registered across the North and East Yorkshire and Northern Lincolnshire Strategic Health Authority area for the last five years, and the number of patients registered with local primary care trusts since they were established in 1999.

some of these extra resources to raise care home fees and thereby stimulate extra supply if that is what is required locally.