§ Mr. Carter-Jonesasked the Secretary of State for Social Services (1) how many wheelchairs no longer in use by clients were recovered by each artificial limb and 422W appliance centre and subcentre and appliance centre and subcentre (i) in each of the last three years for which figures are available and (ii) in each of the last four months for which figures are available;
(2) how many clinics for the purposes of assessment for and training in the use of wheelchairs there are operating within the catchment area of each artificial limb and appliance centre and subcentre and each appliance centre and subcentre; and how many disabled people attended each clinic during (a) each of the last three years for which figures are available and (b) each of the last four months for which figures are available.
§ Mr. NewtonThe information is not available.
§ Mr. Carter-Jonesasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what proportion of requests for wheelchairs received by artificial limb and appliance centres and subcentres and appliance centres and subcentres is referred for authorisation to the disablement services branch headquarters in Blackpool.
§ Mr. NewtonIn the last three months artificial limb and appliance centres have sought advice from disablement services branch regarding some 6 per cent. of requests for wheelchairs.
§ Mr. Carter-Jonesasked the Secretary of State for Social Services, for each artificial limb and appliance centre and subcentre and appliance centre and subcentre, what is the average time between receipt of form AOF 5G and delivery of a wheelchair when it is supplied (i) directly from stock held at local centres and (ii) from stock held at the central store in Lancashire.
§ Mr. NewtonInformation is not available in the form requested. The following applies to the provision of non-powered wheelchairs in the last week of April 1983:
(1) Source of Supply (Subcentre figures included with parent Centre) ALAC Local stock Heywood store Manufacturer Birmingham 215 20 — Brighton 48 8 — Bristol 81 2 2 Cambridge 180 6 1 Cleveland 87 2 — Exeter 71 4 2 Gillingham 65 — — Harold Wood 80 2 — Kingston 89 12 — Leeds 36 1 2 Liverpool 80 4 — Manchester 113 6 — Newcastle 101 — — Nottingham 112 5 — Oxford 112 13 — Portsmouth 62 1 — Preston 67 5 — Sheffield 104 11 — Total 1,703 102 8 423W
(2) Delivery times (Subcentre figures included with parent Centre) ALAC 1–14 days 15–28 days 29–42 days Over 42 days Birmingham 219 9 3 4 Brighton 52 2 — 2 Bristol 71 6 7 1
ALAC 1–14 days 15–28 days 29–42 days Over 42 days Cambridge 163 16 6 2 Cleveland 86 2 — 1 Exeter 75 — — 2 Gillingham 62 3 — — Harold Wood 76 5 — 1 Kingston 71 25 2 3 Leeds 27 4 3 5 Liverpool 66 13 2 3 Manchester 110 6 3 — Newcastle 90 6 4 1 Nottingham 111 6 — — Oxford 119 4 1 — Portsmouth 61 2 — — Preston 68 3 1 — Sheffield 105 9 1 1 Total 1,632 121 33 27
§ Mr. Carter-Jonesasked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will (i) list brief descriptions of the occupations of staff in the Department of Health and Social Security wheelchair service at artificial limb and appliance centres and subcentres and appliance centres and subcentres and (ii) state how many staff in each occupational category are employed at each centre and subcentre.
§ Mr. NewtonThree broad groups of staff are involved in the wheelchair service at artificial limb and appliance centres
Administrative (Executive and Clerical): arranging patients' visits and the supply and maintenance of wheelchairs; authorising payments to repairers.Medical: assessing and advising on the suitability of wheelchairs for patients and patients' eligibility for electrically powered chairs.Technical: monitoring the quality of the manufacture and repair of wheelchairs; advising on adaptions of individual wheelchairs.The numbers of staff in these groups, none of which is exclusively engaged in the wheelchair service, are as follows:
ALAC Executive and Clerical Medical Technical Birmingham 41 3 9 *Wolverhampton — — — Brighton 15 1 4 Bristol 17 2 5 Cambridge 26 1 6 *Norwich — 1 2 Cleveland 11 1 2 Exeter 16 1 4 Plymouth* — — Gillingham 13 1 3 Harold Wood 31 2 7 Leeds 28 3 7 *Hull — — — Liverpool 21 2 4 London Kingston 48 1 8 London Balham* 2 — 5 London Ealing — — — Manchester 28 2 8 Newcastle 19 2 4 Carlisle* — — — Nottingham 29 2 5 Oxford 20 1 4 Portsmouth 19 1 4 Preston 14 1 4 Sheffield 20 1 4 Total 418 29 99 * Sub-centre. Nil entries indicate support for the wheelchair service by the main centre.
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§ Mr. Carter-Jonesasked the Secretary of State for Social Services how many wheelchairs were supplied by each artificial limb and appliance centre and subcentre and appliance centre and subcentre (i) in each of the lasts three years for which figures are available and (ii) in each of the last four months for which figures are available.
§ Mr. NewtonThe figures are as follows:
Wheelchairs supplied by artificial limb and appliance centres, March-June 1983 (sub-centre figures included with parent centre) ALAC March April May June 1983 1983 1983 1983 Birmingham 1,069 912 1,119 1,352 Brighton 440 325 381 431 Bristol 380 310 380 542 Cambridge 286 366 603 828 Cleveland 289 279 336 381 Exeter 415 370 455 522 Gillingham 337 148 289 427 Harold Wood 782 570 652 929 Kingston 1,348 1,142 1,462 1,651 Leeds 670 635 760 786 Liverpool 425 436 417 590 Manchester 624 618 623 739 Newcastle 476 406 554 582 Nottingham 687 707 786 982 Oxford 475 500 561 599 Portsmouth 426 469 363 573 Preston 250 334 324 404 Sheffield 506 406 454 577 Total 9,885 8,933 10,519 12,895
Wheelchairs supplied by artificial limb and appliance centres in three year period 1 April 1980 to 31 March 1983 (sub-centre figures included with parent centre) ALAC 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 Birmingham 9,649 10,588 11,956 Brighton 3,091 3,681 4,100 Bristol 4,070 4,437 4,457 Cambridge 3,776 4,434 6,390 Cleveland 2,501 2,998 3,358 Exeter 3,913 4,841 4,983 Gillingham 2,595 3,202 3,403 Harold Wood 7,000 9,003 8,950 Kingston 12,285 12,431 14,187 Leeds 5,939 6,776 7,614 Liverpool 4,272 4,839 5,077 Manchester 6,789 7,588 7,273 Newcastle 4,404 4,907 5,121 Norwich 3,257 3,515 *587 Nottingham 8,025 8,770 8,120 Oxford 4,976 5,398 5,748 Portsmouth 4,229 4,808 4,907 Preston 3,165 3,560 3,633 Sheffield 4,450 4,917 5,421 Total 98,386 110,693 115,285 *Wheelchair supply transferred to Cambridge, June 1982.