Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many officials in his Department are on the Connecting programme; and how many and what proportion of those officials have spent time working in mental health.

As of 12 May 2014, 242 officials have spent time in health and care organisations as part of the Department's ‘Connecting to patients and people who use services' programme. Of these, 68 (28%) have been on placements in mental health trusts or organisations with a mental health focus, including care homes.

As part of the Connecting programme, Departmental officials commonly encounter other environments where mental health issues are prevalent, including the acute sector and social/community care situations.