§ Mr. GaleTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what information his Department collates relating to the number of persons living within the East Kent Health Authority catchment area suffering from lymphoedema. [135409]
§ Ms Rosie Winterton[holding answer 5 November 2003]: The Department does not routinely collect statistics on the prevalence of individual conditions like lymphoedema. However, we do have data on admissions to national health service hospitals for patients whose primary diagnosis is lymphoedema. Information on the number of admissions based on those people who live in the East Kent Health Authority area is shown in the table. Admissions are defined as the first period of in-patient care under one consultant within one healthcare provider. These figures for not represent the number of in-patients as a person may have more than one admission within the year.
Admissions 1996–97 15 1997–97 15 1997–98 13 1998–99 17 1999–2000 10 2000–01 9 2001–02 4 Notes:
1. The primary diagnosis is the first of up to 14 (seven prior to 2002-03) diagnosis fields in the HES data and provides the main reason why the patient was in hospital.
2. Figures are grossed for both coverage and missing/invalid clinical data, except for 2001–02, which is not yet adjusted for shortfalls.
Source:
Hospital Episode Statistics (HES), Department of Health.