§ Mr. Fittasked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland (1) if he will list the number of households and the rate per 1,000 population in Northern Ireland who received assistance with the provision of aids in the year ended 31st March 1977; and if he will also list the net expenditure per 1,000 population on aids;
(2) if he will list the number of households and the rate per 1,000 population in each area health board who received assistance with the provision of aids in the year ended 31st March 1977; and if he will also list the net expenditure per 1,000 population on aids by each area health board.
§ Mr. Carter, pursuant to his reply [Official Report, 30th November 1977; Vol. 940, c. 262] gave the following information:
The latest available information is as follows:
204W
A. NUMBER OF HOUSEHOLDS ASSISTED WITH THE PROVISION OF PERSONAL AIDS BY SOCIAL SERVICES DEPARTMENTS OF HEALTH AND SOCIAL SERVICES BOARDS IN THE YEAR ENDED 31ST DECEMBER 1976 Health and Social Services Board Number Rate per 1,000 population Northern 2,276 6.32 Southern 902 3.38 Eastern 3,703 5.54 Western 283 1.17 Total for Northern Ireland 7,164 4.66
B. EXPENDITURE INCURRED FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31ST MARCH 1977 Health and Social Services Board Net expenditure per 1,000 population £ Northern 31.84 Southern 31.07 Eastern 28.96 Western 6.47 Total for Northern Ireland £22.99 Personal aids of the same kind are also supplied through the community nursing services of Health and Social Services Boards, but statistics relating to the number of households provided with such aids and expenditure on them are not available. Consideration is, however, being given to the need to widen the scope of the information collected.