§ Mr. HoramTo ask the Secretary of State for Health how many(a) nursing and (b) residential care places for the (i) elderly., (ii) chronically ill and (iii) physically disabled there were in London for each of the last five years, broken down by London borough. [134070]
§ Dr. Ladyman[holding answer 29 October 2003]: Information on the number of nursing care places for older people aged 65 or over and younger physically disabled people aged 18 to 64 by London health authorities as at 31 March for the years 1998 to 2001, has been placed in the Library. Equivalent data for residential care places by London councils with social service responsibilities, has also been placed in the Library. Comparable data for 1997 are not available.
Data on chronically ill people are not available as this is not one of the client groups for which separate information is collected.
Figures for later years have been collected by the National Care Standards Commission.
§ Chris GraylingTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what progress has been made with identifying possible candidates for refund of care costs, following the publication of the Second Report, Session 2002–03, of the Health Service Ombudsman on NHS funding for long-term care of older and disabled people; and what steps he envisages that patients or their families would need to take to pursue their claims. [135371]
§ Dr. LadymanStrategic health authorities (SHAs) have established procedures to investigate inquiries for recompense of the costs of continuing care wrongly denied. To pursue a claim, patients or their families should contact their local SHA and request an investigation of their case.