§ Mr. HansonTo ask the Secretary of State for Health how many eye tests have been carried out in each year since 1979.
§ Dr. MawhinneyThe number of national health service sight tests, which are free to patients, paid for by family health services authorities and health boards in Great Britain in each financial year are shown in the table.
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Number of NHS.sight tests by financial year Great Britain Millions 1979–80 9.55 1980–81 9.53 1981–82 9.70
Millions 1982–83 9.94 1983–84 10.63 1984–85 11.34 1985–86 11.76 1986–87 12.21 1987–88 13.49 1988–89 14.39 1989–901 6.04 210.97 1990–91 4.84 212.43 1991–92 5.79 1 From 1 April 1989, NHS sight tests were restricted to certain groups in the population. The sight tests paid for in 1989–90 include 1.82 million conducted prior to 1 April 1989 when sight tests were universally available. The remaining 4.22 million sight tests paid for in 1989–90 do not represent a full year under the new system, because of the delay in payments. 2 Total number of sight tests conducted. These figures were estimated using data from a survey carried out by the Federation of Ophthalmic and Dispensing Opticians (FODO). The Department collects no information on the overall volume of private sight tests. However, there is no reason to assume that total volume in 1991–92 will have declined from the volume of 12.43 million.