§ Mrs. PeacockTo ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what obligations a district health authority has to provide speech therapists in their district;
(2) what ratio of speech therapists to children needing assistance is laid down by his Department;
(3) what means of redress are provided by his Department for parents where no provision for speech therapy for their children is available from a health authority;
(4) what provision is made for speech therapy to be provided on site in schools rather than the children having to attend special clinics out of educational time in school.
§ Mrs. Virginia BottomleyIt is the responsibility of health authorities to assess the health needs of their local population and to obtain appropriate services for them, including speech and language therapy services. We encourage the NHS to deploy qualified speech and language therapists as effectively and efficiently as possible and to make full use of speech therapists assistants. We expect those providing these services to schools to co-operate closely with local education authorities.
§ Mrs. PeacockTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what representations he has received about the provision of speech therapy in the Dewsbury district health authority area; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mrs. Virginia BottomleyNone.
§ Mrs. PeacockTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what are his Department's guidelines for the training of speech therapists; and how his Department promotes this as a career.
§ Mrs. Virginia BottomleyValidation of courses for speech therapists is the responsibility of the academic board of the College of Speech Therapists. Information on speech therapy as a career is outlined in leaflet HSC20 which is available from Health Service Careers, PO Box 204, London, SE5 7ES.
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§ Mrs. PeacockTo ask the Secretary of State for Health how many speech therapists are employed by the Yorkshire regional health authority; and what information he has on how these are allocated to districts.
§ Mrs. Virginia BottomleyThe information is given in the table:
NHS speech therapists in post Yorkshire region at 30 September 1990 Whole-time equivalents1 District health authorities Total Qualified Helpers Hull 11.5 11.5 3 East Yorkshire 9.8 9.8 3 Grimsby 7.4 7.4 3 Scunthorpe 10.2 10.2 3 Northallerton 6.8 6.8 3 York 14.2 14.2 3 Scarborough 11.0 10.6 0.4 Harrogate 9.2 9.2 3 Bradford 15.2 14.7 0.5 Airedale 16.0 16.0 3 Calderdale 12.0 12.0 3 Huddersfield 17.3 16.8 0.5 Dewsbury 11.8 11.8 3 Leeds Western 20.6 20.6 3 Leeds Eastern 19.4 19.4 3 Wakefield 7.9 7.9 3 Pontefract 7.9 7.9 3 Total2 208.1 206.7 1.4 Source: Department of Health (SM13C) Annual Census of NHS Non-medical Manpower.
Notes:
1 Figures independently rounded to one decimal place.
2 Total may not equal the sum of components, due to rounding.
3 Nil or negligible.
§ Mrs. PeacockTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what specific guidance his Department gives to health authorities in respect of the replacement of specialist staff such as speech therapists.
§ Mrs. Virginia BottomleyThe recruitment of health authority staff, including speech therapists, is a matter for those health authorities.
§ Mrs. PeacockTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what is the total budget within his Department's expenditure programmes for the training of speech therapists; and how many are currently in training.
§ Mr. DorrellFunding of training courses for speech therapists is undertaken by the education sector which bears the full costs of mandatory awards and course provision. No budgets are held by the Department for these purposes. I understand that there are some 990 students currently training in England and Wales.