HC Deb 08 January 2003 vol 397 cc275-6WS
Andy Burnham

To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what steps he is taking to(a) implement a programme of vision screening among children with hearing impairments; and (b) ensure consistent access in different areas to specialist eye examinations for children with hearing impairments; [88580]

(2) how much public funding was allocated to raising awareness among parents, children and teachers of (a) the importance and purpose of vision screening in children, (b) the importance of children having regular eye tests and (c) children's entitlement to free NHS eye tests in each year since 1997; [88578]

(3) what steps he is taking to improve the (a) consistency and (b) quality of children's vision screening programmes in England. [88577]

Mr. Lammy

[holding answer 7 January 2003]The provision of vision screening programmes is a matter for local primary care trusts to consider in accordance with professional advice. This includes vision screening for children with hearing impairments and ensuring access to specialist eye examinations. The national screening committee recommends that all infants and children with a hearing loss should have an expert eye examination as a matter of routine. A national service framework for children, which will set standards aimed at raising the quality of the health and social care services that children receive, is currently under development. Information is not collected centrally on the amount of public funding allocated to raising awareness of vision screening and eligibility for free sight tests—which includes all children under the age of 16 and those aged under 19 in fulltime education.

Department of health vacancies survey, March 2002. Vacancies in NHS trusts, consultant dental group of specialties 3 month vacancy rates, number and staff in post—England (excluding HA staff)
3 month vacancy
Rate (percentage) Number Staff in post1 Staff in post 2
Total consultants dental group 4.5 22 473 582
Of which:
Oral and maxillo-facial surgery 2.2 5 222 255
Orthodontics 6.8 10 140 158
Restorative dentistry 0.0 0 57 86
Paediatric dentistry 6.3 1 15 24
Additional dental specialties 15.8 6 32 47
Oral surgery 3— 3— 3— 3—
Periodontics 3— 3— 3— 3—
Prosthodontics 3— 3— 3— 3—
1Whole-time equivalent
2Headcount
3Figures where sum of staff in post and vacancies is less than 10.

Notes:

  1. 1. Three month vacancy information is as at 31 March 2002.
  2. 2. Three month vacancies are vacancies which trusts are actively trying to fill, which had lasted for three months or more (whole time equivalents).
  3. 3. Three month vacancy rates are three month vacancies expressed as a percentage of three month vacancies plus staff in post.
  4. 4. Three month vacancy rates are calculated using staff in post from the Vacancy Survey and the Consultant Census, March 2002.
  5. 5. Staff in post data is from the Mini Consultant Census, March 2002.
  6. 6. Staff in post data excludes staff employed by health authorities, as vacancy information was only collected from trusts, PCTs and special health authorities.
  7. 7. Medical and dental figures exclude staff in training.
  8. 8. Vacancy and staff in post numbers are rounded to the whole number.
  9. 9. Percentages are rounded to one decimal place.
  10. 10. —= figures where sum of staff in post and vacancies is zero
  11. 11. Calculating the vacancy rates using the above data may not equal the actual vacancy rates.