§ Mr. Ashleyasked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will take steps to ensure that all National Health Service patients who suffer from nystagmus are aware of the methods of treating it.
§ Mr. Kenneth ClarkeEnsuring that a patient who suffers from a disease is appropriately informed about methods of treating it is a task for the patient's doctor.
§ Mr. Ashleyasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what is the average waiting time in National Health Service hospitals for the diagnosis and treatment of nystagmus.
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§ Mr. Kenneth ClarkeWe do not collect sufficient information centrally to give a reliable estimate.
§ Mr. Ashleyasked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he has offered any guidance to health authorities about the funds they should allocate for the treatment of nystagmus.
§ Mr. Kenneth ClarkeWe advise health authorities to decide on the allocation of the funds available to them between various specialties on the basis of their own best judgment of local priorities.
§ Mr. Ashleyasked the Secretary of State for Social Services (1) in which cities or regions there are centres of excellence for researching and treating nystagmus;
(2) if he will tabulate in the Official Report the number and names of the research studies into nystagmus during the last ten years.
§ Mr. Kenneth ClarkeFacilities for the treatment of nystagmus are available in all neurology and some ophthalmology departments.
I understand the Medical Research Council, the main Government funded body supporting research in this field from its grant-in-aid under the science budget of the Department of Education and Science, have been supporting the following four research studies during the last 10 years:
MRC hearing and balance unit—Nottingham
Electronystagmographic investigation of induced vestibular nystagmus, octokinetic nystagmus, spontaneous nystagmus and disordered eye movements.Imperial college, London
- (i) Objective analysis of vestibular nystagmus.
- (ii) Applications of biological signal analysis—analysis of electro cochleograms, auditory—evoked brain stem and cortical E.E.C. responses and perceptual responses to binaural stimuli, objective quantification and interpretation of nystagmus responses to unilateral vestibular stimuli.
University of Manchester—department of ophthalmic optics
Visual perception with congenital nystagmus.It is open to any researcher to submit an application to the council, which would examine it for scientific merit—applications are not restricted to "centres of excellence".
§ Mr. Ashleyasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what is the number of ophthalmic opticians, doctors and research workers in the National Health Service who specialise in testing and researching into nystagmus.
§ Mr. Kenneth ClarkeAll ophthalmic opticians are trained in the detection of nystagmus, and all neurologists and ophthalmologists are trained in its detection and treatment. Information about numbers involved in research is not available centrally.
§ Mr. Ashleyasked the Secretary of State for Social Services if all ophthalmic opticians in the National Health Service receive special training for the detection and treatment of nystagmus.
§ Mr. Kenneth ClarkeAll ophthalmic opticians in the National Health Service are trained in the detection of nystagmus, but their role in treating it is normally confined to the provision of corrective spectacles. When an ophthalmic optician detects nystagmus in a patient, he is required to refer that patient to a doctor.
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§ Mr. Ashleyasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what is his estimate of the number of adults and the number of children who suffer from nystagmus.
§ Mr. Kenneth ClarkeNystagmus may be a symptom of a number of conditions and it is not, therefore, possible to estimate the number of people who suffer from it.