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18 Oct 2006 : Column 1325W—continued
XHIBIT IT System
Lynne Featherstone: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment he has made of the XHIBIT IT system; and if he will make a statement. [33599]
Mr. Byrne: Implementation of the eXchanging Hearing Information By Internet Technology (XHIBIT) application in 99 Crown court sites across England and Wales was completed in March 2006. The system is performing well and is meeting its performance targets for availability.
The XHIBIT application was reviewed by Cranfield university's Proving Services as part of the 2004 Spending Review CJS IT Portfolio Prioritisation exercise and was found to meet the specified standards for attractiveness and achievability.
Expenditure and deliverables for the XHIBIT system are agreed as part of the CJS IT Programme Delivery Plan, which is approved annually by the Home Secretary, the Lord Chancellor, the Attorney General, the Minister with responsibility for the CJS and the Director General of Criminal Justice IT.
An Office of Government Commerce Gateway five review (Benefits Evaluation) was undertaken in November 2005.
Health
Affordable Spectacles
Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps she is taking to ensure that opticians’ practices carry a range of spectacles affordable with an NHS voucher of maximum value. [94293]
Ms Rosie Winterton [holding answer 16 October 2006]: The range of spectacles carried by an optician’s practice is not within the scope of the national health service (NHS) general ophthalmic services contract. However, the system of NHS optical vouchers is designed to give patients maximum choice in deciding where to purchase spectacles and thereby promote access to a wide range of spectacles.
The system of NHS optical vouchers provides help in buying spectacles or lenses for children, those on low incomes and individuals requiring complex lenses. The voucher scheme gives eligible patients flexibility over which spectacles or lenses to choose. Patients are able to take their voucher to the provider of their choice so are able to shop around from a wide range of providers to obtain the spectacles. The scheme also gives patients flexibility to top up the voucher value (if they wish) to obtain more expensive frames of their choice.
Alcohol-related Disease
Susan Kramer: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many incidences of alcohol-related illness have been treated within the NHS in (a) Greater London and (b) England in each year since 2000. [91982]
Caroline Flint: Information is provided in the tables.
| Incidences of alcohol-related illness that have been treated within the national health service in Greater London in each year since 2000( 1) | ||
| Data year | Number of finished consultant episodes for all SHAs | Number of finished consultant episodes for Greater London SHAs |
| (1) Total number of finished consultant episodes for diagnosis codes (F10 Mental and behavioural disorders due to alcohol; K70 Alcoholic liver disease; T51 Toxic effect of alcohol) for all years since 2000 | ||
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