§ Mr. Meacherasked the Secretary of State for Social Services how many kidney dialysis machines there are per 1,000 of the population in each district health authority.
§ Mr. WhitneyThe numbers of kidney dialysis machines in use in each health district are not recorded centrally. Information on the numbers of patients being treated by haemodialysis by each renal unit was given by my hon. Friend the Member for Oxford, West and Abingdon (Mr. Patten) in his reply to the hon. Member for Truro (Mr. Penhaligon) on 25 June at columns378–382. We would expect an individual machine to be provided for each patient dialysing at home, but machines provided for hospital dialysis might be used by several patients.
§ Mr. Meacherasked the Secretary of State for Social Services how many people died of kidney failure in each district health authority for each year from 1979 to date.
§ Mr. WhitneyDeaths from nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis—ICD 9th revision 580–589, OPCS code F350—for health authorities for 1980–83 are shown in tables 4 or 5 in Mortality Statistics, Area, DH5 series, copies of which are in the Library. These figures represent the major component of deaths that will end with renal failure. A slightly smaller number of deaths are certified to renal failure without mention of antecedent disease—chronic renal failure ICD 585, and renal failure, unspecified ICD 586—but these are not 655W available on the published microfiche because of the restricted cause list used. These figures can be produced only at disproportionate cost.
Mortality statistics are derived from the underlying cause of death, which is the disease or condition initiating the sequence of events leading to death. There will be an appreciable number of deaths where renal failure occurs as a terminal event of a disease, such as diabetes, where it is not classified as the underlying cause.