§ Miss Emma NicholsonTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what categories of staff are employed by the national health service to fit leg amputees with artificial legs; and what percentage each category forms of the total staff employed in providing this service.
§ Mr. DorrellArtificial legs are fitted by the specialist profession of prosthetists. These staff are not employed by the NHS but by the companies which supply artificial legs, working on NHS premises.
§ Miss Emma NicholsonTo ask the Secretary of State for Health how many hospitals in the United Kingdom have clinics for the fitting of artificial legs; and how many people are employed by these clinics.
§ Mr. DorrellThere are 29 disablement services centres (DSCs) in England. The numbers employed in the DSCs on the fitting of artificial legs is not held centrally. The information relating to other parts of the United Kingdom is a matter for my right hon. Friends the Secretaries of State for Wales, for Scotland and for Northern Ireland.