§ Ms JowellTo ask the Secretary of State for Health how many speech therapists per 100,000 population are currently provided for children in(a) Southwark, (b) Birmingham, (c) Manchester, (d) Kingston, (e) Lewisham and (f) England. [8473]
§ Mr. BurnsThe information is not available centrally in the form requested.
The number of speech therapists employed by the national health service hospital and community health services by health authority areas is available from the Department of Health's statistical tables, "NHS Hospital and Community Health Services staff by health authority areas, England 1995"—the latest year available—which are available in the Library. Information on the estimated 1995 population in health authorities is available from the Library in "Office for National Statistic Monitor for Population and Health: Mid-1995 population estimates for re-organised local and health authority areas in England and Wales".
The number of speech therapists per head of population within health authorities should be interpreted with caution because in some cases the population served by the organisations in each authority may be greater than the population of the health authority itself.