---

25 Jan 2005 : Column 312W—continued

Speech and Language Therapists

Mr. Donaldson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many speech and language therapists are employed in each of the Health and Social Services Board areas in Northern Ireland. [210882]

Angela Smith: The information requested is provided in the table.

Area	Headcount	Whole-time equivalent
NHSSB	82	71.82
SHSSB	57	50.41
EHSSB	156	130.98
WHSSB	50	48.13
Total	345	301.34

 
25 Jan 2005 : Column 313W
 

Mr. Donaldson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many speech and language therapists are employed by the Western Health and Social Services Board in County Fermanagh. [210883]

Angela Smith: Information on the number of speech and language therapists employed by the Western Health and Social Services Board in County Fermanagh is not held centrally. Speech and language therapists are employed by trusts within each board area and will cover the entire trust area. The table shows the number of speech and language therapists employed by the Western Health and Social Services Board by trust.

Trust	Headcount	Whole- time equivalent
Foyle Community HSS Trust	30	28.13
Sperrin/Lakeland HSS Trust	20	20.00
Total	50	48.13

Prisons

Mrs. Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many suicides there have been at prisons in the Province in each of the last 10 years. [210029]

Mr. Pearson: There have been 37 recorded deaths in custody over the last 10 years. Where the cause of death has been determined by a Coroner's inquest, 18 of the deaths were found to be suicide. An inquest is awaited on four deaths.

	Total deaths (including suicides)	Deaths recorded as suicides
1995	3	2
1996	5	4
1997	8	1
1998	2	1
1999	4	3
2000	6	4
2001	0	0
2002	2	(23)2
2003	3	(24)1
2004	4	(24)0
Total	37	18

⁽²³⁾ In one case, the Coroner recorded a verdict of did not die by own act".
⁽²⁴⁾ Two further cases, in both 2003 and 2004, await the verdict of an inquest.

Tourist Board

Mr. Donaldson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what grants have been made by the Northern Ireland Tourist Board to the owners of boats on inland waterways in Northern Ireland in each of the last five years. [210880]

Mr. Gardiner: The Northern Ireland Tourist Board (NITB) has offered no grants to the owners of boats on inland waterways in Northern Ireland since 2000.
 
25 Jan 2005 : Column 314W
 

Theft and Fraud

Mrs. Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will estimate the cost to the Province's health service of (a) theft and (b) fraud in each of the last six years. [210069]

Angela Smith: Information on the estimate of the cost to the Province's health service of (a) theft and (b) fraud, in each of the last six years is provided in the following table:

Year ending 31 March	Reported losses due to theft and fraud(25)(£)	Estimate of loss due to incorrect claiming of prescription exemption (26) (£ million)
2004	61,721	8.0
2003	121,204	10.0
2002	118,148	10.0
2001	238,972	11.3
2000	71,557	13.8
1999	24,956	12.1

⁽²⁵⁾ This represents the amounts reported in the annual accounts of the Department, Health and Social Services Boards and Trusts. It should be noted that the figures for years ending 31 March 1999, 2000 and 2001 relate to Health and Social Services Boards and Trusts only as figures for the Department were not collected until year ended 31 March 2002. The information is not separately available on losses due to theft and fraud.
⁽²⁶⁾ It should be noted that the estimate of loss due to incorrect claiming of exemptions from prescription charges, will include those losses due to error as well as fraud.

The Department remains committed to the continuing reduction of loss of funds due to fraud and theft.

Town Centre Retailing

Mr. Lidington: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what his policy is on the use of planning guidance and planning powers to protect the economic viability of town centre retailing in Northern Ireland. [210611]

Mr. Spellar: The current policy is set out in Planning Policy Statement 5—Retailing and Town Centres. It sets out policies on major retail development to sustain and enhance the vitality and viability of town centres. This policy is currently being updated and it is proposed to introduce sequential and needs tests that will further protect and enhance the economic viability of town centre retailing in Northern Ireland.

Trolley Waits

Mrs. Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many trolley waits (a) in total and (b) lasting more than two hours there were in the Province during each quarter over the last five years; and how many trolley waits there were on each day since 1 December 2004. [210044]

Angela Smith: The total number of hospital trolley waits is reported to the Department by trusts on a quarterly basis.
 
25 Jan 2005 : Column 315W
 

Number of hospital trolley waits recorded in Northern Ireland by quarter1999–2000 to 2003–2004

	Number patients waiting on a trolley
Quarter	Over 2 hours	Total
30 June 1999	1,018	13,994
30 September 1999	1,265	15,172
31 December 1999	1,686	16,416
31 March 2000	2,071	17,743
1999–2000	6,040	63,325
30 June 2000	1,701	17,296
30 September 2000	1,960	17,483
31 December 2000	2,851	21,735
31 March 2001	3,834	19,365
2000–01	10,346	75,879
30 June 2001	2,943	18,491
30 September 2001	3,421	18,976
31 December 2001	4,054	19,544
31 March 2002	4,623	20,407
2001–02	15,041	77,418
30-June 2002	5,207	21,247
30 September 2002	5,180	24,320
31 December 2002	7,046	25,135
31 March 2003	7,698	25,680
2002–03	25,131	96,382
30 June 2003	6,896	25,620
30 September 2003	6,468	26,080
31 December 2003	7,750	26,424
31 March 2004	8,864	25,969
2003–04	29,978	104,093

Note:
In a small number of cases trusts have returned data for a representative sample of trolley waits.
The Department also receives daily returns (Monday to Friday) on the number of trolley waits based on a snapshot taken at 9.00am in each accident and emergency department across Northern Ireland.





Number of hospital trolley waits recorded at 9.00am in Northern Ireland each week day from 1 December 2004,19 January 2005

Date	Trolley waits
1 December 2004	51
2 December 2004	62
3 December 2004	59
6 December 2004	54
7 December 2004	82
8 December 2004	67
9 December 2004	58
10 December 2004	69
13 December 2004	64
14 December 2004	69
15 December 2004	80
16 December 2004	59
17 December 2004	52
20 December 2004	66
21 December 2004	46
22 December 2004	42
23 December 2004	28
24 December 2004	4
27 December 2004	3
28 December 2004	11
29 December 2004	14
30 December 2004	56
31 December 2004	78
3 January 2005	66
4 January 2005	100
5 January 2005	128
6 January 2005	128
7 January 2005	96
10 January 2005	109
11 January 2005	166
12 January 2005	84
13 January 2005	93
14 January 2005	80
17 January 2005	81
18 January 2005	104
19 January 2005	89

Note:
This information shows a snapshot of the number of trolley waits at 9.00am each weekday.
The Department also receives daily returns (Monday to Friday) on the number of trolley waits based on a snapshot taken at 9.00am in each accident and emergency department across Northern Ireland.





 
25 Jan 2005 : Column 316W
 

Number of hospital trolley waits recorded at 9.00am in each acute hospital on 19 January 2005

Hospital	Number
Altnagelvin	0
Antrim	5
Belfast City	17
Causeway	0
Craigavon	13
Downe	0
Lagan Valley	6
Mater	16
Mid Ulster	3
Daisy Hill	0
Royal Victoria	18
Sperrin Lakeland(27)	0
Ulster	11
Whiteabbey	0
Total	89

⁽²⁷⁾ Data is not supplied separately for Tyrone county hospital and Erne hospital. This information shows a snapshot of the number of trolley waits at 9.00am each week day morning.

---