HC Deb 26 March 1990 vol 170 cc44-6W
Mr. Ashley

To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will encourage health authorities to ensure that training programmes for those who have contact with the public include a showing of the National Speak Week video, "Show You Care".

Mr. Freeman

Health authorities are responsible for determining their own staff training programmes and are already be well aware of the need to include information about communication difficulties in those programmes. We are taking steps to commend to all health authorities the use of the National Speak Week video "Show You Care".

Mr. Ashley

To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list those physical and psychological problems that can lead to speech defects according to information known to his Department.

Mr. Freeman

We are aware that speech and language defects can arise from mental handicap, cerebral palsy, cranio-facial abnormalities, hearing impairment, cerebrovascular accident-stroke, head injury, head and neck surgery, progressive neurological diseases, autism, developmental aphasia, senile dementia, other phsychiatric disorders and a variety of rarer conditions.

Mr. Ashley

To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will publish in theOfficial Report the salary scales for speech therapists

Mrs. Virginia Bottomley

This information is in "Advance Letter (SP) 4/90" a copy of which is in the Library.

Mr. Ashley

To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will seek evidence on the number and proportion of advertisements for speech therapy posts for which there are no applications.

Mrs. Virginia Bottomley

No.

Mr. Ashley

To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will seek information on the number of children in special schools who need speech therapy but are not receiving it because a speech therapist cannot be obtained.

Mr. Freeman

Local education authorities and district health authorities are responsible for arranging speech therapy services for children in special schools. We are aware that, despite the increase in the numbers of speech therapists employed in the National Health Service and the initiatives we are taking with the professions, there are shortages in some areas. These are local problems which should be resolved by management locally.

Mr. Ashley

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what educational literature or publicity on the difficulties faced by those with speech problems has been provided by the Health Education Council; and if he will encourage the council to do more.

Mr. Freeman

There are no current publications dealing with this subject produced by the Health Education Authority. Whilst many preventable conditions—such as low birthweight and stroke—can lead to speech problems, it is the primary causes of these conditions which the Health Education Authority generally addresses. Many publications dealing with the remedial aspects of such conditions are produced, more appropriately, by voluntary and other bodies who have developed a special understanding of the difficulties faced by particular groups. These publications are made use of by health authorities and professionals.

Mr. Ashley

To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what evidence he has on the trend in the overall number of people with speech defects; and what is the trend in each of the major categories of people with speech defects;

(2) what is the estimated number of people who suffer speech defects; and if he will classify them according to the major causes of the defect.

Mr. Freeman

An article, "Communication Disorders, Planning a Service to meet the Needs" published in the December 1989 issue of the "British Journal of Disorders of Communication" by Dr. Enderby and Dr. Davies, and based on research funded by the Department, confirmed an earlier estimate of approximately 2.3 million people in the United Kingdom with speech and language disorders, produced by Dr. Enderby and Dr. Philipp. The article, a copy of which is in the Library, also contained estimates for most of the major categories of speech and language disorder. There is no firm evidence available about trends in overall numbers and individual categories.

Mr. Ashley

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what is the average cost of restoring some mobility by a hip operation to an arthritic patient; and what is the average cost of restoring some speech through speech therapy to a patient who has suffered a stroke.

Mr. Freeman

Information is not available in the form requested. The average cost of a National Health Service hip replacement operation was approximately £2,600 in 1988–89.

Mr. Ashley

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what proportion of speech therapists currently have specialist qualifications.

Mrs. Virginia Bottomley

This information is not available centrally.

Mr. Ashley

To ask the Secretary of State for Health with whom he has discussed the problem of matching the supply and demand for speech therapy; what information he has collected; and when he intends to publish his conclusions.

Mr. Freeman

Officials have held discussions about speech therapy supply and demand issues with representatives of the College of Speech Therapists, the Association of Speech Therapy Managers, National Health Service officials, individual speech therapists and other organisations and individuals. A variety of information has been collected and conclusions will be published as and when appropriate.