§ 3. Mr. Robert Syms (Poole)If he will make a statement on the implementation of the review of cleft lip and palate units. [106240]
§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health (Ms Gisela Stuart)Designated centres have so far been identified in three regions and discussions are continuing to identify the remaining centres.
§ Mr. SymsToday, there has been a luncheon for charter mark winners, one of which is the Poole cleft lip and palate unit. As the Minister wrote to me just before Christmas:
The charter mark is recognition for those public service organisations that listen and respond to their users and staff. It is the centre of the Government's programme to improve public services and modernise them for the 21st century.Apart from the inconvenient fact that the Government are trying to close the unit, does she not understand the real concern about the clinical standards advisory group proposals, and the concern that there seems to be no clear guidance about what is happening on implementation? If she cannot give me an answer today, will she please write to me and tell me when decisions will be made?
§ Ms StuartCharter mark awards are made in recognition of public services. Discussions on the reconfiguration of Poole's provisions for cleft lip and palate are about clinical decisions. I have said that three areas have been identified for Poole and the whole of the south-east, including London. The four health authorities are still forming a stakeholder group. Reports are expected at the end of February, but it is important to recognise that although, nationally, some 865 newly born children need such surgery, in Dorset health authority alone, only 10 will need it. All the recommendations from CSAG say that, to deliver the best service, surgeons should deal with about 30 cases a year.
§ Mr. Tony Clarke (Northampton, South)My hon. Friend will be pleased to know that, although we might not have a chief executive or chair of the health authority, we have an excellent consultant in our cleft lip and palate unit at Northampton general hospital, but will she expand her answer to include the future for those that carry out the Delaire technique, such as Bill Smith, who works at the hospital? Parents are concerned that, with the forthcoming changes, that pioneering technique—which concentrates on natural growth and surgery rather than 891 plastic surgery—could be phased out. Will she give some hope to those parents that the Government will continue to allow the Delaire technique, and that, where it is being practised, it will continue to flourish?
§ Ms StuartDifferent orthodontic and cleft palate surgeons use different techniques. Once the overall national reconfiguration system has been implemented, the posts will be advertised, and it will then be a matter of which types of surgeon are able to provide continuity. No decisions have been made on which techniques will be continued, but the decisions will be based on clinical considerations and on what is best for the treatment of those children.