§ Mr. Hooleyasked the Secretary of State for Social Services how many of the new type of body-worn National Health Service hearing aids were issued in Sheffield in 1977, 1978 and 1979 up to 31 March; and how these figures compare with the figures for Leeds, Manchester, Birmingham, Newcastle, Liverpool, Cardiff and Bristol.
222W
§ Mr. PrenticeI assume that the hon. Member is referring to the hearing aid known as BW61, which only became available in August 1978 for limited categories of patients.
Comparisons between the numbers of issues made by the various hearing aid centres in the cities listed by the hon. Member would be misleading. This is because the catchment populations of hearing aid centres vary widely, in some cases extending beyond the area health authority boundaries.
Following are the issues for the regions concerned and Wales, for the period August 1978 to 31 March 1979:
Trent 78 Yorkshire 230 North Western 320 West Midlands 349 Northern 181 Mersey 91 Wales 96 South Western 174