§ Mr. ButlerTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Services whether lithotripsy is now available in the Merseyside health authority; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mrs. CurrieThe number of patients in Mersey requiring treatment on a lithotripter is at present insufficient to justify the regional health authority purchasing its own machine.
North Western regional healt authority is able to offer lithotripsy to patients from the Mersey region as a supra-regional service. Patients receive treatment at the Withington hospital, Manchester.
This arrangement works well and no patient from the Mersey region is waiting for access to the machine.