HC Deb 11 March 1997 vol 292 cc166-7W
Mr. Barron

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what progress has been made on the provision of a tracing service for the NHS number; and if he will make a statement. [19101]

Mr. Horam

A tracing service for the new national health service number has been in operation since November 1996. The service is provided by the NHS central register at Southport. Since its introduction, the tracing service has been used by 159 NHS trusts to find the NHS number for 67 million patient records.