HC Deb 19 February 1986 vol 92 c193W
Mr. Willie W. Hamilton

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will publish a table showing for each hospital board area in Scotland the availability of cervical smear services; and how far they are meeting demand.

Mr. John MacKay

All Scottish health boards provide facilities for the screening of cervical smears, and priority is given to patients when a smear is required on clinical grounds. Due to an increasing demand for routine smears, backlogs have occurred in one or two areas and the health boards concerned are considering what steps to take to reduce the delays that have arisen because of this.

Residents as at 31 December in mental handicap hospitals by age and year of residence 1976–84, showing numbers and rates per 100,000 population for selected age groups
Age in Years (Numbers)
0–2 2–4 5–9 10–15 16–18 19–64 65–74 75+ 0–15 16+ Total
1976 8 30 225 694 409 5,035 485 139 957 6,068 7,025
1977 7 36 192 638 408 5,042 486 149 873 6,085 6,958
1978 7 34 144 577 403 5,020 497 162 762 6,082 6,844
1979 3 29 130 513 387 4,971 516 174 675 6,048 6,723
1980 3 12 99 460 380 4,944 538 196 574 6,058 6,632
1981 2 16 84 379 370 4,919 553 215 481 6,057 6,538
1982 4 15 73 312 331 4,887 556 246 404 6,020 6,424
1983 6 14 53 259 277 4,773 541 253 332 5,844 6,176
1984 3 14 51 214 231 4,636 539 275 282 5,681 5,963

Year of Residence (Rates per 100,000 population)
Age 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984
0–15 71.1 66.5 59.6 54.1 47.1 40.5 34.8 29.3 25.5
16+ 157.2 156.7 155.9 154.3 153.9 151.7 150.3 145.5 140.6
Total 135.0 133.9 132.1 130.1 128.7 126.2 124.3 119.9 115.9

Information for 1985 is not yet available and it is not possible to give meaningful estimates to 1986–87.