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19 Nov 2008 : Column 537W—continued

Patient Choice Schemes

Norman Lamb: To ask the Secretary of State for Health which primary care trusts use NHS Direct as their Choose and Book appointments line. [236955]

Mr. Bradshaw: All primary care trusts have the facility to use the Choose and Book appointments line run by NHS Direct on behalf of the national health service.

While the vast majority of primary care trusts use this service for all of their calls, five primary care trusts have taken the operational decision to only use it for out of hours services between the period 07.00 to 09.00 and 17.00 to 22.00 hours Monday to Friday and 07.00 to 22.00 on a Saturday, Sunday and bank holidays.

Where primary care trusts take the decision to organise their own service outside of the nationally provided arrangement, the service is funded locally by the primary care trust.

Norman Lamb: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the average cost per call to the NHS Direct National Choose and Book appointments line was in each of the last three years; and how much income the service generated in each year. [237164]

Mr. Bradshaw: The Department does not collect information on the cost incurred by individual patients calling the national 0845 608 8888 number. The actual cost incurred by patients will vary depending on whether a patient calls from a landline or mobile and what cost tariff they are on with the phone service provider. The National Choose and Book Appointment Line do not generate any income from patient calls made to the service.

Patients can also book their appointment, free of charge, either via the internet or in their general practitioner (GP) surgery at the time of their referral by the GP.

The cost to NHS Direct of providing the National Choose and Book Appointment Line service is paid for from national health service financial resources.

Norman Lamb: To ask the Secretary of State for Health in what proportion of appointments booked via the NHS Direct National Choose and Book appointments line a hard copy confirmation of the booking was posted to the patient within two days in each of the last 36 months. [237165]


19 Nov 2008 : Column 538W

Mr. Bradshaw: The NHS Direct choose and book appointments line are not responsible for posting a hard copy confirmation of a patient's booking. Details of a patient's appointment are conveyed over the telephone when patients choose to book their appointment in this way, with clinical details about a patient's appointment sent by the provider of their choice who in most cases will send the patient a hard copy confirmation of their booking.

Prescriptions

Miss McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what percentage of prescription items were dispensed to patients as repeat prescriptions in (a) Vale of York constituency and (b) England in the last three years. [233208]

Phil Hope: The Department does not hold the information regarding the percentage of prescriptions which are issued as repeat prescriptions.

Quality Adjusted Life Year

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the progress on the research commissioned by the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) from the National Institute for Health Research to consider public opinion on NICE's use of the Quality Adjusted Life Year as a basis for its recommendations. [234674]

Dawn Primarolo: We have made no such assessment. The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) is an independent organisation and is responsible for considering the impact of research on its methods and processes.

NICE commissioned the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) to conduct two pieces of research into the use of the Quality Adjusted Life Year (QALY). The ‘What is the value to society of a QALY?’ report was published in July 2008 and ‘The relative societal value of health gains to different beneficiaries’ report was published in August 2008.

Sight Impaired

Jenny Willott: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many registered blind people there are, broken down by (a) region and (b) constituency; and if he will make a statement. [235925]

Phil Hope: Data on the number of registered blind and partially sighted people are not collected centrally by constituency but are available for councils with adult social services responsibilities and Government office regions.

Information collected 31 March 2008, shows that 153,000 people were on the register of blind people, a slight increase of around 500 (0.3 per cent.) from March 2006 although there were 10,200 new registrations to the register of blind people, a fall of 5 per cent. compared to 2006.

The following table shows the number of blind and partially sighted people registered with councils with adult social services responsibilities in England.


19 Nov 2008 : Column 539W

19 Nov 2008 : Column 540W

19 Nov 2008 : Column 541W
Number of blind and partially sighted people registered with councils with adult social services responsibilities in England as at 31 March 2008
Rounded numbers
Total number of people (all ages) registered as:

Blind Partially sighted

England

152,980

156,285

North East

6,785

8,310

Durham

1,475

1,805

Northumberland

720

840

Darlington

250

320

Hartlepool

220

190

Middlesbrough

290

475

Redcar and Cleveland

250

460

Stockton-on-Tees

365

530

Gateshead

505

710

Newcastle-upon-Tyne

810

840

North Tyneside

635

675

South Tyneside

450

480

Sunderland

805

990

North West

22,550

24,675

Cheshire

1,995

2,000

Cumbria

1,350

1,555

Lancashire

3,540

4,540

Blackburn with Darwen

530

835

Blackpool

565

870

Halton

255

360

Warrington

435

580

Bolton

750

1,020

Bury

865

750

Knowsley

455

560

Liverpool

1,195

1,120

Manchester

1,890

1,770

Oldham

870

775

Rochdale

1,525

835

Salford

1,025

1,065

Sefton

1,025

975

St Helens

335

565

Stockport

620

885

Tameside

665

580

Trafford

825

725

Wigan

675

1,005

Wirral

1,155

1,320

Yorkshire and the Humber

17,150

17,935

North Yorkshire

1,780

1,905

East Riding

1,055

1,125

Kingston-upon-Hull

735

705

NE Lincolnshire

425

355

North Lincolnshire

600

385

York

430

555

Barnsley

1,810

1,220

Bradford

1,670

1,725

Calderdale

480

465

Doncaster

760

1,225

Kirklees

785

670

Leeds

2,780

2,460

Rotherham

860

1,360

Sheffield

1,730

1,890

Wakefield

1,250

1,895

East Midlands

13,120

14,700

Derbyshire

3,040

3,070

Leicestershire

1,520

1,980

Lincolnshire

1,990

2,450

Northamptonshire

1,705

1,285

Nottinghamshire

1,830

2,820

Derby

995

590

Leicester

1,035

1,135

Nottingham

915

1265

Rutland

85

100

West Midlands

15,975

16,215

Shropshire

695

650

Staffordshire

2,085

1,930

Warwickshire

1,335

1,600

Worcestershire

1,125

1,205

Herefordshire

780

1,385

Stoke-on-Trent

750

640

Telford and Wrekin

305

390

Birmingham

4,690

3,965

Coventry

665

805

Dudley

800

810

Sandwell

850

805

Solihull

510

420

Walsall

700

825

Wolverhampton

690

785

South West

15,145

14,855

Cornwall

1,700

1,760

Devon

2,075

2,080

Dorset

1,260

1,365

Gloucestershire

1,530

1,885

Isles of Scilly

10

Somerset

1,560

1,275

Wiltshire

1,455

1,285

Bath and NE Somerset

540

535

Bournemouth

845

670

Bristol

930

1,025

North Somerset

670

635

Plymouth

640

570

Poole

645

635

South Gloucestershire

505

385

Swindon

305

285

Torbay

480

460

Eastern

15,110

14,740

Bedfordshire

665

680

Cambridgeshire

1,595

1,105

Essex

3,215

3,485

Hertfordshire

3,100

3,055

Norfolk

2,600

2,330

Suffolk

2,210

2,185

Luton

555

430

Peterborough

500

480

Southend

440

670

Thurrock

225

320

London

21,650

17,665

Camden

665

640

Greenwich

465

600

Hackney

590

450

Hammersmith and Fulham

520

330

Islington

680

600

Kensington and Chelsea

585

355

Lambeth

840

160

Lewisham

660

450

Southwark

750

520

Tower Hamlets

395

430

Wandsworth

785

630

Westminster

810

540

City of London

10

20

Barking and Dagenham

345

395

Barnet

950

905

Bexley

390

450

Brent

1,380

935

Bromley

955

1,020

Croydon

955

745

Ealing

970

650

Enfield

565

500

Haringey

915

685

Harrow

630

530

Havering

365

510

Hillingdon

645

730

Hounslow

750

710

Kingston-upon-Thames

345

260

Merton

590

515

Newham

965

610

Redbridge

915

830

Richmond-upon-Thames

370

270

Sutton

595

535

Waltham Forest

305

160

South East

25,495

27,190

Buckinghamshire

980

1,105

East Sussex

2,365

2,280

Hampshire

3,340

4,730

Kent

4,955

6,410

Oxfordshire

2,105

1,820

Surrey

2,455

1,840

West Sussex

4,000

3,945

Bracknell Forest

215

180

Brighton and Hove

900

645

Isle of Wight

365

470

Medway Towns

405

545

Milton Keynes

555

445

Portsmouth

505

430

Reading

480

490

Slough

285

205

Southampton

605

690

West Berkshire

325

370

Windsor and Maidenhead

370

320

Wokingham

285

270

Notes:
1. ‘—’ = 6 or less (or less than 50 for national and regional totals)
2. Figures may not add up because of rounding.
Source:
National figures are actual figures from 150 SSDA902 forms.

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