HC Deb 04 July 1996 vol 280 cc518-9W
Dr. Hendron

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland (1) how many new medical cards were issued by the Central Services Agency in each parliamentary constituency in each of the 12 months to June 1996; [35154]

(2) how many new medical cards were issued by the Central Services Agency in each parliamentary constituency in each of the 12 months to June 1995. [35155]

Mr. Moss

Statistics on the number of medical cards issued cannot be broken down by parliamentary constituency and are collected only on a quarterly basis. The table shows the number issued in each quarter between 1 July 1994 and 31 May 1996.

Medical cards issued by the Central Services Agency
Quarter ending Number issued
1994–95
30 September 1994 67,465
31 December 1994 68,866
31 March 1995 79,097
30 June 1995 74,756
1995–96
30 September 1995 94,016
31 December 95 73,213
31 March 1996 70,026
30 June 19961 144,848
1 June 1996 statistics are not yet available.

Dr. Hendron

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many medical cards are in existence in West Belfast. [35156]

Mr. Moss

The information requested is not available.

Mr. Hendron

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what procedure is followed by the Central Services Agency when a person reports his medical card as lost or stolen. [35160]

Mr. Moss

Where a medical card is reported as lost or stolen, the Central Services Agency requests details of the person's surname, birth surname (where different), forenames, current address, previous address if recently changed, date of birth and the name of the patient's GP. The patient's record is traced on the central health index and at least three of the data items given by the patient must match to confirm that the correct patient record has been traced. If the details match, the central health index is updated, and a new medical card is issued to the patient, normally within five working days.

Dr. Hendron

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what changes are proposed for the amount of information required to be on a medical card. [35242]

Mr. Moss

Certain changes are being considered to the medical card:

  1. (a) to enable patients to register under the national organ donor registration scheme;
  2. (b) to enable a GP, on accepting a child under five as a new patient, to indicate if child health surveillance services are to be provided; and
  3. (c) to remove details about dispensing by doctors in the light of a review of dispensing arrangements.

No other changes are proposed.