HC Deb 22 October 1990 vol 178 cc34-5W
Mr. Tony Banks

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what information he has on the impact of charging to for eyesight checks on attendances for examination in the London borough of Newham.

Mrs. Virginia Bottomley

Information about NHS sight tests is not collected for individual London boroughs. Figures are available, however, for regional health authorities. For North East Thames regional health authority, which includes the London borough of Newham, the number of NHS sight tests paid for in 1988–89 and 1989–90 by family health service authorities in that region was as follows:

  • NHS Sight Tests
    • 35
  • 1988–89: 1,054,960
  • 1989–90 (after entitlement was restricted to certain groups): 468,230.

After 1 April 1989, many patients in Newham, as elsewhere, will have had a private eye examination. Regular statistics are not kept on private sight tests.