§ Dr. MurrisonTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what were the excess(a) mortality and (b) morbidity figures associated with single-use instruments for tonsillectomy in 2001. [32780]
§ Yvette CooperI apologise to the hon. Member for the delay in responding to this question. I refer him to the reply that my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State gave my hon. Friend the Member for Blackpool, North and Fleetwood (Mrs. Humble) on 5 March 2002,Official Report, column 192W.
The Hospital Episode Statistics (HES) does not collect details of instruments used during tonsil and adenoid surgery or the cause of death. The HES database does show that there were 41,483 finished consultant episodes in tonsil and adenoid surgery in 2000. From January to September 2001 figures show over 20,700 finished consultant episodes reported, but these figures are not complete.
HES does not record deaths in hospital, but can give no information on cause of death or morbidity measures. As the number of deaths following tonsillectomy is so small (fewer than six), the Department is unable to publish these mortality figures for patient confidentiality reasons.