§ Mr. HancockTo ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) if he will make it his policy to exempt people with mental health problems from paying prescription charges; [136114]
(2) if he will assess the long-term effects upon NHS finances of providing free prescriptions for people with long-term mental health problems; and if he will make a statement. [136133]
§ Ms Rosie WintertonWe have no plans to make an assessment of the effects upon national health service finances of providing free prescriptions for people with mental health problems.
Prescription charges are expected to raise some £446 million for the NHS in 2003–04 and are a valuable source of revenue for the NHS.
Our policy is to help those who may have difficulty in paying prescription charges, rather than extending the exemption arrangements. There are extensive exemption, remission and prepayment arrangements which mean that around 85 per cent. of all prescribed items are supplied free of charge. Around 10 per cent. of items are paid for at the point of dispensing with another five per cent. going to holders of prepayment certificates.
Patients who are liable to pay may seek help through the NHS low income scheme or by using a prescription prepayment certificate need to pay more than £32.90 for four months or £90.40 for 12 months, for all the NHS medication that they are prescribed.
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§ Mr. BurstowTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment his Department has made of whether the prevalence of physical illness amongst mental health service users is higher than amongst the general population. [138352]
§ Ms Rosie WintertonThe Office for National Statistics survey, "Psychiatric Morbidity Among Adults Living in Private Households", 2000, found that there was a clear relationship between the number of neurotic disorders present and the reporting of a physical complaint.
Just under 38 per cent, of adults with no neurotic disorder reported having a physical complaint while this figure rose to 57 per cent, of those with one neurotic disorder. Among those with two or more neurotic disorders, 67 per cent, reported at least one physical complaint.
The same survey found that people assessed as probably having a psychotic disorder were more likely than those without to report a longstanding physical health problem. Overall, 62 per cent, of those with probable psychosis reported a physical complaint, compared with only 42 per cent, of those without this disorder.
§ Tim LoughtonTo ask the Secretary of State for Health how many mental health care beds in the independent sector have been occupied by NHS patients on average in the last five years, broken down by(a) number of patients and (b) bed days. [138492]
§ Ms Rosie WintertonThis information is not centrally available. However, individual primary care trusts would be able to provide details of the beds they have commissioned from the independent sector upon request.
Arrangements are being made for National Health Service use of the independent sector to be included in centrally returned data via hospital episodes statistics. In time, this will capture all activity sub-contracted by NHS trusts or commissioned by the NHS. Early estimates have been made in respect of general and acute activity only.