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Equity Audits

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what equity audits have been undertaken by her Department to assess the health of vulnerable groups. [39401]

Caroline Flint: The Department have not undertaken any health equity audits. Health equity audit is a key tool to be used by the national health service to embed evidence of local inequalities into mainstream activity such as planning, commissioning and service delivery. Health equity audit is a mandatory part of primary care trust planning and the topic for each health equity audit is down to local determination by the NHS trust and their partners. The Choosing Health White Paper Delivering Choosing Health (2005)" set out the intention to extend health and wellbeing equity audits to other NHS trusts and local authorities.

Healthy Living Centres

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will make a statement on the range of services provided by healthy living centres. [39663]

Caroline Flint: Healthy living centres (HLCs) in England provide, or host, a wide range of services for their local communities. These include mainstream health promotion services local facilities including community cafes and activities such as dance and tai chi. The mix of services and facilities varies widely between individual HLCs.

Hearing Services

Peter Bottomley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how long the waiting times are for (a) a hospital hearing test and (b) the fitting of a hearing aid in the health districts covering Sedgefield and Worthing; and what the equivalent waiting times were in 1997. [38923]

 
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Mr. Byrne: The information requested is not available centrally. However, from January 2006, a new monthly commissioner-based diagnostic data collection will be introduced. This will look at waiting times and activity for 15 diagnostic tests or procedures, including pure tone audiometry.

Hypothermia

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps the Government are taking to make the elderly more aware of hypothermia. [40607]

Mr. Byrne: The Government are engaged in a large number of initiatives designed to make older people more aware of the dangers of hypothermia. These are the same as those designed to heighten awareness of the dangers of cold generally and include:

The 'Keep Warm Keep Well' campaign launched this year with the flu immunisation campaign and a leaflet and helpline-based advice on what simple measures older people can take to preserve their health in winter time.

Flu and pneumococcal immunisation programmes. The United Kingdom has the highest uptake of flu immunisation among eligible groups of any in Europe.

Helping to set up the health, housing and fuel poverty forum in March 2005, to raise the profile of cold, damp homes and to mainstream the many innovative activities the national health service is engaged in to address this issue.

Establishing the £60 million Partnerships for Older People Projects fund. The focus of these projects is on improving outcomes for older people through preventive interventions. Fuel poverty reduction forms a part in several of these.

Direct encouragement to the NHS to increase further the many fuel poverty reduction partnerships between the NHS, local authorities and, for example, Warm Front. These lead to primary care staff being trained and supported, simplified referral routes and rapid response from Warm Front and others.

Influenza Vaccinations

Mike Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 8 December 2005, Official Report, column 1571W, on influenza inoculations, whether any priorities for the recipients of the two to three million doses of the H5N1 vaccine being purchased have been determined in addition to the healthcare workers referred to. [40864]

Caroline Flint: We are in the process of gathering expert advice on the optimal strategy for use of H5N1 vaccine. No decisions have yet been made.

IVF Treatment

Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1)how many primary care trusts restrict funding for IVF treatment to women aged 30 years and over; [41500]

(2) what action she is taking to ensure that primary care trusts meet the clinical criteria set out in the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence's clinical guidelines on the assessment and treatment of people with fertility problems. [41501]

Caroline Flint: Information about the number of primary care trusts restricting funding for in-vitro fertilisation treatment for women aged 30 years and over is not collected centrally. We are discussing
 
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with Infertility Network UK, the leading voluntary organisation representing the interests of fertility patients, ways in which they can work with primary care trusts to help ensure that the patients' voice is heard when decisions about the provision of services are made at local level.

Mal de Debarquement Syndrome

Mrs. James: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what improvements have been made to the (a) diagnosis and (b) treatment of mal de debarquement syndrome on the NHS; and if she will make a statement. [42044]

Mr. Byrne: We are not aware of any improvements in the diagnosis and treatment of this rare condition.

Maternity Centres

Mr. Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what assessment her Department has made of the level of use of midwife-led maternity centres; [39633]

(2) how many midwife-led maternity centres have been in operation in each of the last 10 years; [39634]

(3) how many midwife-led maternity centres have shut in each of the last 10 years; [39635]

(4) what assessment her Department has made of the impact on mothers of travelling further while in labour as a result of the closure of local maternity services; [39698]

(5) what proportion of births took place in midwife-led maternity centres in the last year for which figures are available. [39962]

Mr. Byrne: It is for primary care trusts and national health service trusts to determine the level of midwife-led maternity care required locally. A survey of patients conducted on behalf of the Department ¹ asking for a preference as to where the next delivery would take place found 20.4 per cent. wanted to give birth in a midwife-led unit.

Under the maternity standard of the national service framework for children, young people and maternity services, published in September 2004, NHS maternity care providers and primary care trusts (PCTs) are required to ensure that the range of antenatal, birth and post-birth care services available locally constitutes real choice for women.

Information on the number of midwife-led maternity centres that have been in operation or shut in each of the last 10 years is not collected centrally.

It is for local PCTs and NHS trusts to assess the impact reconfiguring maternity services will have on mothers to be.

Information on the proportion of births that took place in midwife-led maternity centres is not collected centrally.

¹ Different models of maternity care: an evaluation of the roles of primary health care workers", Hewison J, Renfrew M J, Gregson B, Young G, Braunholtz D, Dowswell T, Hirst J, Ross-McGill H. 2003

 
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Mobility Equipment

Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many outstanding requests for mobility equipment for children under the age of 16 there are; what the average waiting time for mobility equipment is; how many children are registered as requiring disability equipment; how many children are on the waiting list for disability equipment; if she will break down the information in each category by parliamentary constituency; and what procedures are in place to ensure mobility equipment is provided to similar cases. [40671]

Mr. Byrne: The information requested is not held centrally.

MRI Scans

Mr. Davey: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what recent representations she has received regarding waiting times for MRI scans. [29278]

Mr. Byrne: Written representations have been received from hon. and right hon. Members and the public.

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