§ Mr. AshleyTo ask the Secretary of State for Health if he has received the report by the Leonard Cheshire Foundation on its wheelchair and seating project; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. DorrellThe report has not been formally submitted to the Department. I understand a copy of the report has now been made available to the Disablement Services Authority and that a meeting has been arranged with the director of the Leonard Cheshire Foundation.
§ Mr. AshleyTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what representations he has received from the Disablement Services Authority concerning the level of funding required for the provision of special seating for disabled people; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. DorrellThe Disablement Services Authority has brought the matter of funding for special seating for severely disabled people to our attention on several occasions and in particular at the formal reviews of the authority in 1988 and 1989. As a result, we have provided £1 million for this purpose from the present year onwards.
§ Mr. AshleyTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what representations he has received concerning the level of funding required for the provision of special seating for disabled people; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. DorrellWe have received a small number of recent letters from voluntary organisations. The Disablement Services Authority, which has the primary responsibility for the provision of special seating for severely disabled people in wheelchairs, has been allocated an additional £1 million specifically for this purpose from 1990–91 onwards. District health authorities continue to provide some special seating.
82Wafter a period of treatment lasting (i) one month, (ii) three months and (iii) six months, during each of the last five years.
§ Mr. DorrellThe information available centrally is given in the table. The number of discharges is greater than the number of patients treated as some will be admitted more than once in a year.