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28 Oct 2005 : Column 650W—continued

Low Birth Weight Babies

Mr. Peter Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many low birth weighte babies there were in each region in the most recent year in which figures are available expressed as (a) a percentage of allbirths and (b) the number ranked in descending order. [21186]

Mr. Woodward: The number of low birth weight babies that were born within each Health Board for 2004–05 is shown in the following table.

Health Board
(a) Percentage of all births(b) Number of low birth weight babies
Eastern6.68543
Northern5.96342
Southern6.04291
Western5.37203
Northern Ireland6.141,379




Notes:
1.All births and low birth weight births include live and still.
2.A low birth weight baby is regarded as weighing less than 2,500 grams.
Source:
Child Health System (CHS)



Lupus

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many people were diagnosed with lupus in Northern Ireland in each of the past five years. [22327]

Mr. Woodward: Information on the number of individuals diagnosed with lupus in Northern Ireland is not available. Information is available on the number of sufferers admitted to hospital.

The following table shows the number of admissions 1 to hospital in Northern Ireland, in each of the last five years, where the patients' primary diagnosis was lupus erythematosus or systematic lupus erythematosus.
Lupus erythematosusSystematic lupus erythematosusTotal Admissions(22) with a primary diagnosis of lupus
2000–0119197216
2001–0230174204
2002–0312249261
2003–0423221244
2004–0525214239


(22)Discharges and deaths are used as an approximation for admissions. It is possible that any individual could be admitted to hospital more than once in any year and will thus be counted more than once as an admission.
Source:
Hospital inpatients system



M2

Dr. McCrea: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what steps he is taking to alleviate congestion on the M2 out of Sandyknowles. [21361]

Mr. Woodward: The Chief Executive of Roads Service (Dr. Malcolm McKibbin) has been asked to write to the hon. Gentleman in response to this question.

Letter from Dr. Malcolm Mckibbin to Dr. William McCrea dated 27 October 2005:


 
28 Oct 2005 : Column 651W
 

NHS Equipment

Dr. McCrea: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what estimate has been made of the cost to the NHS of the failure to return equipment loaned to patients in the last two years. [21358]

Mr. Woodward: The information requested is not available.

Northern Bank Robbery

Dr. McCrea: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what his most recent assessment is of whether the Provisional IRA carried out the Northern Bank robbery. [21830]

Mr. Woodward: The Chief Constable has publicly stated that in his professional opinion, and based on the intelligence to hand, responsibility for the Northern Bank robbery must be attributed to the Provisional IRA. That is still his view.

The Government fully accepts the Chief Constable's judgment which was further endorsed by the Independent Monitoring Commission in its report of 10 February 2005.

Orthodontics

Dr. McCrea: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what orthodontic treatment is available on the NHS to the people of Northern Ireland; and what the charges are for each type of treatment. [21363]

Mr. Woodward: Health service orthodontic treatment is available to everyone here on the basis of clinical need. Most treatment is given following a referral from a general dental practitioner to a specialist orthodontist or a practitioner with orthodontic experience. The fees for each type of treatment are as follows:
Intra-oral appliances
£

AppliancePatient charge per appliance
Removable spring and/or screw type appliance87.80
Simple fixed type appliance84.20
Fixed multiband or multibracket appliance246.24
Functional appliance151.00
Bite plane appliance64.44
Additional fee for extra-oral traction or anchorage reinforcement, where necessary
Extra-oral traction35.84
Anchorage reinforcement35.84

 
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Retention
£

Charge
(1) Supervision of retention for a period of not less than 5complete calendar months
Per course of treatment22.24
Per additional period(23)11.16
(2) Retention appliance(24) (fee per appliance)
Removable retainer in acrylic resin43.40
Fixed or bonded retainer49.48
Removable pressure formed retainer35.20


(23)Additional fee for each further period of supervision of not less than two complete calendar months, normally subject to a maximum of two such periods.
(24)Normally only one removable or one fixed retainer per arch and only provided after active appliance treatment.


Repairs to orthodontic appliances

No charge.
Additions to or inclusions in orthodontic appliances of an artificial tooth to replace a missing natural tooth
£

Addition or inclusion of an artificial tooth
(including any associated gum)
Charge for each tooth
To a fixed appliance or fixed retainer9.60
To a removable appliance or removable retainer14.24

Replacement of appliances lost or damaged beyond repair
£

ApplianceCost per appliance
Space maintainer or retention appliance34.60
Removable spring and/or screw type appliance47.08
Simple fixed type appliance48.24
Fixed multiband or multibracket appliance90.36
Functional appliance55.72

Any other orthodontic treatment

Such fee as the Dental Committee of the Central Services Agency may determine

Planning

Dr. McCrea: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland when he will publish the draft retail planning policy document; and what assessment he has made of the effects of the delay in its publication. [21639]

Angela E. Smith: The Minister of State for Northern Ireland with responsibility for planning (Lord Rooker) issued a press release on 18 August announcing that he would be monitoring developments of a major retail development application at Sprucefield in deciding the timing and content of draft PPS 5.

There is on going assessment of the impact of the delay in publishing draft PPS 5.


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