HC Deb 29 March 1990 vol 170 cc290-5W
Mr. David Marshall

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will list the total number of vacancies for speech therapists within each health board area and the agreed establishment for speech therapists.

Mr. Michael Forsyth

This information is not available centrally.

Mrs. Ray Michie

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland (1) what is the average case load covered by a speech therapist;

(2) if he will provide a percentage breakdown of the communication-handicapped population who receive speech therapy in (a) the hospital site, (b) National Health Service premises, (c) local authority premises, (d) patients' homes and (e) other locations;

(3) if he will provide statistics on the levels of speech therapy service currently available in each area health authority in Scotland; if work is currently in progress to analyse the levels of services required for areas; and if he will make a statement.

Mr. Michael Forsyth

[holding answer 27 March 1990]: Information available centrally about speech therapy

Table 1—Speech therapy statistics: year ending 31 March 1989
Scotland Argyll and Clyde Ayrshire and Arran Borders Dumfries and Galloway Fife Forth Valley Grampian
Patients attending1
All ages
Number 51,083 3,928 4,263 1,480 1,788 3,658 3,308 5,644
Rate2 10.0 8.9 11.4 14.4 12.1 10.6 12.2 11.3
Aged under 5 30.7 41.5 33.6 24.7 33.8 32.0 23.3 34.9
5–18 41.8 35.2 51.2 42.0 49.0 35.1 47.2 41.1
19–64 14.1 13.8 8.5 19.9 8.3 12.3 18.5 12.0
65 and over 13.3 9.6 6.7 13.4 8.8 20.6 10.9 12.1
New patients
All ages
Number 22,447 1,834 1,381 719 526 1,593 1,157 2,203
Rate2 4.4 4.1 3.7 7.0 3.6 4.6 4.3 4.4
Aged under 5 38.6 46.0 56.0 27.0 47.5 38.3 35.8 40.8
5–18 23.3 21.5 20.2 41.2 29.1 17.0 17.7 23.3
19–64 17.0 16.9 11.4 17.8 9.5 11.7 24.0 14.7
65 and over 21.1 15.6 12.3 14.0 13.9 33.0 22.5 21.2
Attendances
All attendances 465,226 36,101 34,545 21,906 23,552 37,456 26,806 39,422
Hospital
Inpatient 14.8 13.8 6.2 9.6 3.4 10.5 28.3 17.8
Outpatient 13.0 11.7 6.5 4.6 3.1 7.7 12.8 9.3
Health Centre/Clinic 22.4 31.6 42.0 6.0 0.8 24.9 9.3 25.5
School 38.3 36.1 41.5 49.3 67.1 39.0 35.7 38.5
Domiciliary 4.7 2.2 2.7 10.1 16.8 6.3 4.4 3.3
Other 6.8 4.7 1.1 20.4 8.8 11.6 9.6 5.7
Speech therapists3
Number 446 38 26 14 18 30 23 56
Whole-time equivalents 363.4 30.2 22.4 10.7 16.1 26.4 17.8 43.7

Table 1—continued
Greater Glasgow Highland Lanarkshire Lothian Orkney Shetland Tayside Western Isles
Patients Attending1
All Ages
Number 8,274 2,998 3,570 7,329 478 356 3,706 303
Rate2 8.8 14.9 6.4 9.9 24.6 15.9 9.4 9.8
Aged under 5 24.0 27.0 36.7 29.6 16.5 16.3 34.7 21.1
5–18 38.6 55.5 39.9 35.4 78.2 73.6 39.7 49.5
19–64 20.8 9.2 12.7 15.8 1.7 4.5 11.6 20.1
65 and over 16.6 8.3 10.7 19.2 3.6 5.6 14.0 9.2
New Patients
All Ages
Number 4,301 1,069 1,738 3,827 157 186 1,622 134
Rate2 4.6 5.3 3.1 5.2 8.1 8.3 4.1 4.3
Aged under 5 30.7 37.7 49.5 34.4 29.9 21.0 39.3 35.8
5–18 25.5 37.4 20.9 16.9 64.3 68.8 19.7 45.5
19–64 21.2 11.6 15.1 21.2 1.9 5.9 15.4 13.4
65 and over 22.6 13.3 14.4 27.5 3.8 4.3 25.6 5.2
Attendances
All Attendances 66,689 17,764 30,913 79,510 2,422 3,645 42,343 2,152
Hospital Inpatient 18.9 14.1 9.6 20.6 3.3 1.6 13.6 4.6

staffing, patients, workload and location of treatment in health boards is collated annually by the information and statistics division of Common Services Agency. The latest tables are as follows, and copies are in the Library. Assessment of the need for speech therapy services is a matter for health boards.

Greater Glasgow Highland Lanarkshire Lothian Orkney Shetland Tayside Western Isles
Outpatient 24.3 5.6 15.5 13.5 0.2 14.7 21.7 0.9
Health Centre/Clinic 28.1 10.3 50.2 15.8 3.9 1.5 13.2 21.1
School 18.2 55.8 20.2 41.1 79.0 79.5 42.9 42.9
Domiciliary 2.8 10.3 2.2 3.4 9.3 2.6 2.4 28.0
Other 7.8 3.9 2.3 5.6 4.2 6.3 2.4
Speech Therapists3
Number 80 16 33 64 2 1 41 4
Whole-time-equivalent 65.7 13.4 26.8 53.1 2.0 0.7 31.3 3.1
1Old and new patients.
2 Per 1,000 population.
3 As at 31st March 1989 (provisional figures): excludes speech therapy helpers.

Source: Form ISD(S)31 and ISD (National Manpower Statistics).

Table 2
Speech therapists: by grade and health board: at 31 March 1989 (Provisional)
Grade E
Number WTE
Scotland 5 5.0
Argyll and Clyde
Ayrshire and Arran 1 1.0
Borders
Dumfries and Galloway
Fife 1 1.0
Forth Valley 1 1.0
Grampian
Greater Glasgow
Highland
Lanarkshire
Lothian 1 1.0
Orkney
Shetland
Tayside 1 1.0
Western Isles
Grade D
Number WTE
Scotland 27 27.0
Argyll and Clyde 3 3.0
Ayrshire and Arran 1 1.0
Borders 1 1.0
Dumfries and Galloway 2 2.0
Fife
Forth Valley 2 2.0
Grampian 2 2.0
Greater Glasgow 3 3.0
Highland 1 1.0
Lanarkshire 1 1.0
Lothian 6 6.0
Orkney
Shetland
Tayside 4 4.0
Western Isles 1 1.0
Grade C (Senior)
Number WTE
Scotland 141 129.0
Argyll and Clyde 10 8.5
Ayrshire and Arran 8 7.5
Borders 4 4.0
Dumfries and Galloway 1 1.0
Fife 8 8.0
Number WTE
Forth Valley 4 3.4
Grampian 11 11.0
Greater Glasgow 43 38.4
Highland 3 3.0
Lanarkshire 11 10.5
Lothian 25 22.1
Orkney 1 1.0
Shetland
Tayside 11 9.6
Western Isles 1 1.0
Grade B (Basic)
Number WTE
Scotland 240 171.8
Argyll and Clyde 22 16.1
Ayrshire and Arran 15 11.9
Borders 9 5.7
Dumfries and Galloway 14 12.1
Fife 19 15.4
Forth Valley 13 8.4
Grampian 36 23.7
Greater Glasgow 27 18–1
Highland 12 9.4
Lanarkshire 20 14.3
Lothian 30 22.3
Orkney
Shetland 1 0.7
Tayside 20 12.6
Western Isles 2 1.1
Grade A
Number WTE
Scotland 33 30.6
Argyll and Clyde 3 2.6
Ayrshire and Arran 1 1.0
Borders
Dumfries and Galloway 1 1.0
Fife 2 2.0
Forth Valley 3 3.0
Grampian 7 7.0
Greater Glasgow 7 6.2
Highland
Lanarkshire 1 1.0
Lothian 2 1.7
Orkney 1 1.0
Shetland
Tayside 5 4.1
Western Isles
ST Helper
Number WTE
Scotland 3 1.3
Argyll and Clyde
Ayrshire and Arran
Borders
Dumfries and Galloway 1 0.5
Fife
Forth Valley 1 0.3
Grampian
Greater Glasgow 1 0.5
Highland
Lanarkshire
Lothian
Orkney
Shetland
Tayside
Western Isles

Source: ISD (National Manpower Statistics).

Mrs. Ray Michie

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland (1) if he will give a breakdown of the percentages of speech therapy referrals which come from doctors and consultants, and from clinical medical officers, health

Speech therapists in post: Whole-time equivalent at 30 September
Health board 1985 1986 1987 1988 11989
Scotland 323.7 339.4 343.1 372.3 377.6
Argyll and Clyde 27.5 29.0 28.1 32.8 33.0
Ayrshire and Arran 17.9 19.3 20.6 20.5 21.5
Borders 10.2 10.3 11.2 10.7 11.7
Dumfries and Galloway 15.6 16.5 15.9 15.8 16.1
Fife 23.7 25.3 28.0 27.5 28.1
Forth Valley 13.8 13.4 16.3 18.4 18.2
Grampian 28.6 35.6 33.5 40.2 45.5
Greater Glasgow 60.4 62.6 63.0 70.8 63.7
Highland 12.8 14.8 14.9 16.1 15.5
Lanarkshire 22.8 24.1 23.2 27.5 31.8
Lothian 53.4 50.2 52.5 53.6 56.4
Orkney 2.0 1.2 2.0 1.6 1.0
Shetland 0.8 0.8 0.8 0.7 0.7
Tayside 31.9 33.0 29.8 33.5 31.3
Western Isles 2.3 3.3 3.3 2.6 3.1
1 Provisional.