§ Mr. DonohoeTo ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what procedures are used by Ayrshire and Arran health board to arrange appointments for women for breast screening; in what circumstances this is done without the patient's prior approval; whether this procedure is adopted by other health boards; and if Ayrshire and Arran health board has assessed the costs to them of arranging appointments where the patient has failed to turn up or cancelled her appointment.
§ Mr. Allan StewartNational appointment procedures are followed in each breast screening centre. An initial letter inviting the patient to attend on a specific 659W appointment date is sent to each patient based on a list which has been endorsed by the patients' GPs. Experience has shown that if they are offered a firm date, some 80 per cent. of women invited in this way are able to attend without the need for any further letters. The screening centres have assessed the economic implications of call-up and have taken this into account by calling up enough patients to ensure that the maximum numbers are screened after allowing for non-attenders. This still enables all patients to be screened timeously.
§ Mr. DonohoeTo ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how much the national health service has spent on its breast screening programme in each of the last five years.
§ Mr. Stewart[holding answer 14 June 1994]: Expenditure on the Scottish breast screening programme has been as follows:
£ million Year Revenue Capital Total 1989–90 1.7 3.0 4.7 1990–91 2.8 0.7 3.5 1991–92 3.4 — 3.4 1992–93 3.5 — 3.5 1993–94 3.7 0.2 3.9