§ Mr. Carter-Jonesasked the Secretary of State for Social Services (1) what action he has taken following his promise in the debate on preventive medicine to write to area health authorities with high perinatal and infant mortality rates;
(2) if he will list the area health authorities with higher than average perinatal and infant mortality rates in recent years from whom he has requested details of the specific policies they are adopting to improve the situation.
12W
Region Perinatal and Infant Mortality Areas Perinatal Mortality only Infant Mortality only Northern … … Newcastle: North Tyneside — Cleveland Yorkshire … … Calderdale: Kirklees — — Trent … … Barnsley: Lincolnshire Leicestershire Derbyshire: Rotherham North West Thames Kensington, Chelsea and Westminster — — North East Thames City and East London: Redbridge and Waltham Forest — Barking and Havering: Camden and Islington South East Thames Bromley — East Sussex South West Thames — — Croydon Wessex … … — — Dorset Oxford … … — — Buckinghamshire South Western … — — Somerset West Midlands … Salop: Warwickshire Coventry: Dudley Wolverhampton Mersey … St. Helen's and Knowsley — — North Western … Rochdale: Stockport Wigan: Bolton: Salford Manchester East Anglia … — — —
§ Mr. MoyleOn 9th August 1978, my hon. Friend the Under-Secretary of State, Department of Health and Social Security, wrote on my behalf to all chairmen of regional health authorities sending them a copy of the perinatal and infant mortality statistics for 1974 to 1977 inclusive and drawing their attention to those areas with worse-than-average figures whose performance seemed to afford grounds for real concern, either because they were not improving or because they were improving at an unacceptably slow rate. Chairmen were asked to make a special approach to the area chairmen concerned, requesting them to report back by the end of the year on the specific policies they are adopting now and in future years to improve the situation.
My hon. Friend's letter emphasised that variations in the infant and perinatal death rates are in no sense a true measure of the effectiveness of an area's health services, and may also reflect a whole range of wider social and environmental factors; even areas with the best overall figures may have some localities with high perinatal and infant mortality where further effort may be called for.
In the planning manual issued in January this year, all regional health authorities were asked to incorporate in their strategic plans proposals for tackling the incidence of perinatal and infant mortality, together with the incidence of related handicaps, especially for those areas with persistently high figures.
A table is appended showing the areas which have been asked to furnish the special reports referred to.