Death Rates (Hansard, 13 April 1981)

§ Mr. Freud
asked the Secretary of State for Social Services whether he will list in the Official Report (a) the numbers of deaths and (b) the death rate per thousand for the following age groups (i) under one year, (ii) one to five years, (iii) 60 to 64 years. (iv) 65 to 69 years, (v) 70 to 74 years, (vi) 75 to 79 years, (vii) 80 to 84 years, (viii) 85 to 89 years and (ix) 90 years and over from: (a) 1 April 1978 to 30 September 1978, (b) 1 October 1978 to 31 March 1979 and (c) 1 April 1979 to 30 September 1980.

§ Sir George Young
The available figures are shown in the following table:
carried out in the United Kingdom during 1979 and 1980; and what is the breakdown of the respective figures according to socio-economic group.

§ Sir George Young
[pursuant to his reply, 9 April, c. 337–38]: This information is not available for Northern Ireland. For England, Wales and Scotland there is no information on sterilisations performed privately, or on those performed under the NHS on a day-patient basis. The latest estimates of NHS sterilisations carried out on a hospital in-patient basis in England, Wales and Scotland is that in 1978 there were 90,319.
Information on the socio-economic groups of women sterilised is not available centrally in England and Wales, and for Scotland could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.
59W

§ Mr. Skinner
asked the Secretary of State for Social Services whether sterilisations of female patients may be recommended by general practitioners on social as well as medical grounds; and if he will make a statement.

§ Sir George Young
[pursuant to his reply, 9 April, c. 337–38]: Female sterilisation is available under the NHS for both medical and family planning reasons. The decision to undergo sterilisation is an important one as the procedure is usually irreversible and, like any operation, contains an element of risk. Full counselling should, therefore, be given beforehand to ensure that the patient fully understands the nature of the operation, and the patient's written consent should be obtained.