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4 Dec 2003 : Column 180W—continued

Macular Disease

Mr. Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what proportion of people with macular disease have been provided with low vision aids on the NHS. [141422]

Ms Rosie Winterton: Figures are not held centrally on low vision aids provided to people with macular disease.

Low vision aids are available free on loan, to any person requiring them. It is for local areas to decide how best to organise their low vision services. Most services are provided in a hospital setting by the hospital eye service, who will assess the needs of the individual and provide any necessary low vision aids, this could be in the form of strong reading glasses, magnifiers or telescopes.

4 Dec 2003 : Column 181W

The integrating community equipment services initiative, known as ICES, aims to produce better equipment services for people by bringing what were previously separate local national health service and social services equipment services into integrated organisations. Local services have the responsibility for achieving this integration by April 2004.

Mr. Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much has been allocated (a) in England and (b) in the Huddersfield and Kirklees area for the provision of low vision aids for patients suffering from macular disease in the last 12 months. [141423]

Ms Rosie Winterton: There is no national allocation for low vision aids. It is for local national health service providers to decide how much should be made available to fund low vision aids out of their overall allocations, in light of local needs.

Calderdale and Huddersfield NHS Trust hold the budget for the provision of low vision aids for Huddersfield patients. In 2003–04 £8,078 was allocated for patients suffering from macular disease. Figures are not available for the Kirklees area.

Low vision aids are available free on loan, to any person requiring them. It is for local areas to decide how best to organise their low vision services. Most services are provided in a hospital setting by the hospital eye service, who will assess the needs of the individual and provide any necessary low vision aids, this could be in the form of strong reading glasses, magnifiers or telescopes.

The integrating community equipment services initiative, known as ICES, aims to produce better equipment services for people by bringing what were previously separate local NHS and social services equipment services into integrated organisations. Local services have the responsibility for achieving this integration by April 2004.

Plano Lenses

Joan Walley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what progress has been made in re-evaluating the funding status of plano lenses under the national health service for (a) children and (b) adults. [140482]

Ms Rosie Winterton: Plano tinted lenses may be prescribed by the hospital eye service for patients who have a recognised clinical need for them.

Although there are indications that some children and adults with reading difficulties may benefit from tinted lenses, these need to be provided as part of a proper scheme of assessment and treatment or many people could receive them unnecessarily. There is a risk otherwise that more appropriate responses to their needs could be delayed while time is taken up investigating tinted lenses.

Currently, plano tinted lenses are not available under the general ophthalmic services and there are no plans for this to change.

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Preventive Health Strategies

Mr. Gardiner: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much per head of population has been spent by his Department on preventive health strategies in (a) 2001, (b) 2002 and (c) 2003. [140501]

Miss Melanie Johnson: The information requested is not available. Prevention and improving the health of the population are important aspects of the Department's work and feature in many of its activities, including tackling health inequalities, reducing the risks associated with coronary heart disease and cancer, improving sexual health and dealing with substance misuse.

Sanitary Products

Mr. Blizzard: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will offer financial support to women for the purchase of sanitary products. [140895]

Dr. Ladyman: The Government accept without question that sanitary protection is essential for women's personal hygiene. However, these are not for medical use and cannot be provided on the national health service. To show the Government's willingness to listen to the views and concerns of women throughout the country, VAT on women's sanitary products was cut to five per cent. from January 2001.

St. Helens Hospitals

Mr. Woodward: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many patients were treated in hospitals that serve St. Helens in each year since 1992. [141481]

Miss Melanie Johnson: The information requested is shown in the table.

St. Helens and Knowsley Health Authority 1996–97 to 2001–02

	Provider
	St. Helens and Knowsley Hospitals NHS Trust	St. Helens and Knowsley Community Trust
1996–97	60,622	11
1997–98	61,409	—
1998–99	63,358	*
1999–2000	66,516	—
2000–01	69,157	—
2001–02	68,338	—

Notes:

1. The St. Helens and Knowsley Health Authority came into existence in 1996, but was dissolved in 2001–02 and became part of the Cheshire and Merseyside Strategic Health Authority.

2. Low numbers—due to reasons of confidentiality, figures between one and five have been suppressed and replaced with '*'. Zeros have been replaced by '—'.

Source:

Hospital Episode Statistics (HES), Department of Health.

Mr. Woodward: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much was spent per patient on (a) health care as a whole, (b) general practitioner surgeries and (c) hospitals in (i) St. Helens, (ii) Merseyside and (iii) the North West Region in each year since 1992. [141483]

Miss Melanie Johnson: The information requested is not collected centrally.

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Suicide

Charles Hendry: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what funding is available to voluntary organisations through the National Suicide Strategy; and to which organisations funding has been granted. [140643]

Ms Rosie Winterton: Resources will be made available both centrally and through the National Institute for Mental Health in England's eight development centres for specific pieces of work to help implementation of the national suicide prevention strategy. No voluntary sector organisations have yet been granted funding through these resources.

A number of voluntary sector organisations apply for grants under the Section 64 General Scheme. Some of these organisations have a remit that explicitly includes attention to the needs of vulnerable groups who may be at risk of suicide. Information about the Section 64 General Scheme is available on the Department's website at www.doh.gov.uk/sect64/s64. This also includes the full list of currently approved grants.

Waiting Times

Mr. McLoughlin: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the average waiting time for a first consultant appointment was in West Derbyshire in each year since 1997. [141455]

Dr. Ladyman: The information requested is shown in the table.

Average (median) waiting times for first consultant out-patient appointment following G(D)P referral: Western Derbyshire

	Median waiting times (weeks)
1997–98	5.80
1998–99	5.96
1999–2000	6.53
2000–01	6.49
2001–02	6.67
2002–03	5.82

Note:

For 2002–03, data are taken from High Peak and Dale primary care trust (PCT) and Chesterfield PCT. Prior to this, data are taken from North Derbyshire Health Authority (HA) and Southern Derbyshire HA.

Source:

Department of Health form QM08R.

Mr. McLoughlin: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list the clinical areas where the NHS in West Derbyshire has longer (a) waiting lists and (b) waiting times than the national average. [141456]

Dr. Ladyman: The information requested is shown in the tables.

Patients waiting for elective in-patient admission: Position at 30 September 2003: England, and High Peak and Dales PCT and Chesterfield PCTWaiting list per 10,000 head of population

Specialty	England	High Peak andDales PCT andChesterfield PCT
Trauma and orthopaedics	51.0	71.9
Neurosurgery	1.3	2.2
Gastroenterology	2.0	4.4
Cardiology	6.3	7.3
Nephrology	0.2	0.7
Medical oncology	0.0	0.1
Radiology	0.1	0.3
All specialties	195.2	200.2

Source:

Department of Health form QF01.

4 Dec 2003 : Column 184W

Average (median) waiting times for elective in-patient admission: Position at 30 September 2003: England, and High Peak and Dales PCT and Chesterfield PCTMedian waiting times

Specialty	England	High Peak and DalesPCT and ChesterfieldPCT
Trauma and orthopaedics	3.52	4.27	0.75
Oral surgery	2.36	3.00	0.64
Neurosurgery	3.12	4.40	1.28
Cardiology	2.47	2.79	0.33
Nephrology	1.92	2.10	0.18
Radiology	2.33	6.00	3.67
All specialities	2.71	2.70	-0.01

Source:

Department of Health form QF01.

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