HL Deb 03 May 2001 vol 625 cc144-8WA
Baroness Darcy de Knayth

asked Her Majesty's Government:

What representations they have received from the disability consortium "emPOWER" about the current annual allocation of £14 million funding for the provision in England by the National Health Service of electrically powered indoor/outdoor wheelchairs and wheelchair vouchers; and [HL1954]

When they expect to meet representatives of the disability consortium "emPOWER" to discuss schemes for the provision of electrically powered indoor/outdoor wheelchairs and wheelchair vouchers. [HL1955]

Lord Hunt of Kings Heath

; Ministers at the Department of Health have corresponded and met with emPOWER to discuss the Government's continued commitment to the provision of indoor/ outdoor powered wheelchairs and vouchers, and the recurrent funding of £14 million so that users' needs can be met more effectively. We are also funding the emPOWER project to promote wheelchair user groups and encourage new ones.

Baroness Darcy de Knayth

asked Her Majesty's Government:

What they regard as a reasonable period of time for a severely disabled person to wait to be provided with an electrically powered indoor/outdoor wheelchair by the National Health Service in England. [HL1958]

Lord Hunt of Kings Heath

The 1999 evaluation of the indoor/outdoor powered wheelchair initiative carried out by the York Health Economics Consortium found that the assessment process takes about 4–5 months on average and that the wheelchairs are generally delivered within 6–8 weeks of the completion of the assessment. The average time between referral and delivery was 24 weeks during 1998–99. It is important for waiting times to be kept to an absolute minimum, given the importance of wheelchairs in promoting the independence of disabled people.

HA Name Number of people awaiting or still undergoing assessment Q3 2000–01 Forecast Year End Number of powered indoor/outdoor wheelchairs issued to users Q3 2000–01 Forecast Year End Number of powered indoor/outdoor wheelchairs issued to users Q3 Q3 Year to date activity Total committed spend in current year on powered indoor/outdoor wheelchairs Q3 2000–01 Forecast Year End £ Total committed spend in current year on powered indoor/outdoor wheelchairs Q3 Q3 Year to date activity £ Number of people issued with a voucher for wheelchair services Q3 2000–01 Forecast Year End Number of people issued with a voucher for wheelchair services Q3 Year to date activity Total actual spend on wheelchair vouchers in the current financial rear Q3 2000–01 Forecast Year End £ Total actual spend on wheelchair vouchers in the current financial year Q3 Year to date activity £
England 3,990 3,417 2,508 6,435,002 4,638,971 6,806 5,060 4,343,376 34,016,079
Northern & Yorkshire 737 514 376 796,722 587,327 776 570 458,025 298,625
Trent 526 395 289 750,087 521,284 796 600 483,657 337,338
West Midlands 197 367 288 374,327 278,583 682 510 290,350 184,881
North West 417 360 249 955,446 661,456 1,428 1,064 846,748 631,291
Eastern 288 408 298 734,916 554,793 481 358 283,275 215,792
London 826 354 252 975,304 743,631 534 358 400,993 260,069
South East 575 753 552 1,269,631 900,536 1,537 1,197 931,775 621,266
South West 424 266 204 578,569 391,360 572 403 648,554 466,818
Hillingdon HA 33 5 2 36,000 16,333 40 34 25,000 14,303
Kensington, Chelsea and Westminster HA 9 11 8 43,650 32,738 3 2 1,216 912
Enfield and Haringey HA 42 26 22 59,786 53,896 24 12 22,000 15,996
Redbridge and Waltham Forest HA 15 56 48 119,100 91,015 39 29 24,500 18,709
Bedfordshire HA 59 68 51 90,000 71,400 82 65 43,510 35,640
Berkshire HA 35 65 52 90,000 67,670 75 58 50,000 36,400
Buckinghamshire HA 52 37 27 106,536 46,422 44 33 88,464 16,682
Bexley and Greenwich HA 6 19 14 116 87 112 66 31 23
Bromley HA 4 12 8 19,000 14,062 49 37 20,000 14,773
Croydon HA 452 36 21 66,000 52,000 44 33 53,000 37,000
East Kent HA 20 71 47 117,620 89,174 94 73 44,878 34,359
West Kent HA 90 80 48 200,000 136,308 100 68 80,000 47,752
Kingston and Richmond HA 11 24 21 40,000 38,152 24 18 47,000 12,337
Lambeth, Southwark and Lewisham HA 31 36 26 110,000 82,500 4 1 8,840 2,210
Merton. Sutton and Wandsworth HA 13 42 29 148,837 111,628 58 32 37,395 28,046
East Surrey HA 11 20 16 66,620 48,382 200 145 51,087 23,843
West Surrey HA 25 36 27 96,555 72,416 107 80 78,609 58,957
East Sussex, Brighton and Hove HA 109 72 54 84,346 63,418 56 42 41,388 31,119
West Sussex HA 39 202 153 90,000 48,095 346 262 118,000 69,112
Barking and Havering HA 52 12 9 46,000 46,000 16 12 61,000 61,000
Barnet HA 6 3 2 30,000 20,551 63 48 26,235 19,678
Brent and Harrow HA 15 7 5 42,564 31,923 12 9 36,308 27,231
Camden and Islington HA 20 20 6 66,633 48,884 14 1 28,000 0
Ealing, Hammersmith and Hounslow HA 22 26 17 80,000 53,149
East London and City HA 95 19 14 67,618 50,713 32 24 10,468 7,851
North Essex HA 49 60 44 89,100 66,825
South Essex HA 8 36 27 89,300 66,975 17 12 114,000 85,500
South Lancashire HA 5 13 10 36,672 26,218 148 111 72,946 54,709
Liverpool HA 30 27 20 54,503 34,127 47 35 16,520 12,390
Manchester HA 12 20 18 53,000 39,750 16 13 16,070 12,035
Morecambe Bay HA 0 17 17 53,519 53,519 52 44 38,000 29,732

Baroness Darcy de Knayth

asked Her Majesty's Government:

In respect of each health authority in England, how many, and at what cost, electrically powered indoor/outdoor wheelchairs and wheelchair vouchers were provided in the financial year 2000–01; and [HL1956]

In respect of each health authority in England, how many severely disabled people have been assessed as meeting the eligibility criteria for electrically powered indoor/outdoor wheelchairs; of these eligible people, how many the National Health Service has so far been unable to provide with such wheelchairs; and what are the maximurn and minimum times people have to wait for the provision of such wheelchairs once assessed as eligible. [HL1957]

Lord Hunt of Kings Heath

The available data for 2000–01 on indoor/outdoor powered wheelchairs and vouchers is given in the following table.

HA Name Number of people awaiting or still undergoing assessment Q3 2000–01 Forecast Year End Number of powered indoor/outdoor wheelchairs issued to users Q3 2000–01 Forecast Year End Number of powered indoor/outdoor wheelchairs issued to users Q3 Q3 Year to date activity Total committed spend in current year on powered indoor/outdoor wheelchairs Q3 2000–01 Forecast Year End £ Total committed spend in current year on powered indoor/outdoor wheelchairs Q3 Q3 Year to date activity £ Number of people issued with a voucher for wheelchair services Q3 2000–01 Forecast Year End Number of people issued with a voucher for wheelchair services Q3 Year to date activity Total actual spend on wheelchair vouchers in the current financial year Q3 2000–01 Forecast Year End £ Total actual spend on wheelchair vouchers in the current financial year Q3 Year to date activity £
St Helens and Knowsley HA 20 20 14 45,000 33,488 63 53 31,000 27,370
Salford and Trafford HA 73,000 54,750 128,000 111,093
Sefton HA 72 12 9 40,000 30,000 16 12 44,000 33,000
Stockport HA 37 20 4 38,605 28,953 40 30 14,551 10,913
West Pennine HA 10 37 22 62,000 35,000 100 78 35,000 23,666
Northamptonshire HA 28 13 10 83,236 62,427 28 21 99,000 74,250
Oxfordshire HA 50 30 23 101,921 86,051 160 144 101,921 90,289
Suffolk HA 25 37 28 87,660 65,745 63 47 23,313 17,484
Barnsley HA 12 23 23 58,767 58,767 8 5 5,660 4,245
North Derbyshire HA 46 35 24 48,000 36,000 124 92 45,000 33,900
South Derbyshire HA 70 68 52 80,000 49,399 112 92 60,000 47,302
Doncaster HA 10 25 19 40 30 70 70 21 21
Leicestershire HA 126 71 51 113,000 35,887 72 11 40,000 6,875
Lincolnshire HA 82 31 18 97,000 64,381 91 78 66,596 54,209
North Nottinghamshire HA 52 21 16 48,000 36,000 29 22 64,000 48,000
Nottingham HA 90 34 29 105,000 103,413 110 94 95,000 69,600
Rotherham HA 4 18 10 40,000 29,690 30 22 9,000 6,271
Sheffield HA 0 40 25 108,000 62,500 30 24 46,100 35,249
Bury and Rochdale HA 59 16 11 48 36 13 11 6 5
North Cheshire HA 8 14 8 212,181 158,769 42 32 16,310 12,232
South Cheshire HA 16 40 30 83,000 27,481 144 105 110,000 36,690
East Lancashire HA 15 22 11 62,459 28,901 149 112 81,365 61,024
North West Lancashire HA 6 20 16 55,795 41,681 389 292 160,000 142,829
North and Mid Hampshire HA 25 35 25 75,738 56,804 96 72 49,181 36,886
Portsmouth and SE Hampshire HA 73 45 34 60,059 45,044 67 50 31,247 23,435
Southampton and SW Hampshire HA 14 43 34 85,000 67,513 111 106 85,000 65,732
Isle of Wight HA 4 4 2 12,000 10,812 53 43 13,000 12,450
Somerset HA 91 31 25 61,000 44,306 41 32 82,000 63,204
South and West Devon HA 44 35 26 76,671 40,622 25 17 62,668 37,882
Wiltshire HA 18 20 18 72,603 45,861 58 49 94,559 56,475
Avon HA 120 18 9 118,000 88,500 120 58 157,000 117,750
Birmingham HA 20 30 25 160 120 0 0 0 0
Wigan and Bolton HA 94 55 41 49,000 36,750 88 66 65,000 48,750
Wirral HA 33 27 18 45,664 32,033 121 70 17,980 14,853
Bradford HA 65 52 38 82,000 43,965 132 99 46,984 35,238
Durham HA 55 46 34 99,000 73,850 41 31 100,500 74,600
East Riding HA 92 37 26 82,500 61,875 103 77 35,000 21,997
Gateshead and South Tyneside HA 21 48 36 65,688 49,266 4 4 4,473 4,473
Leeds HA 84 52 39 75,345 56,509 153 115 32,192 24,144
Newcastle and North Tyneside HA 22 14 7 60,000 56,000 5 4 2,217 1,663
North Cumbria HA 40 30 18 54,000 32,400 32 20 15,000 9,648
South Humber HA 34 29 22 52,280 45,217 120 90 52,280 31,666
Northumberland HA 20 37 29 44,000 36,000 20 6 60,000 7,440
Sunderland HA 10 20 16 75 29 20 13 8 3
Tees HA 140 55 41 68,200 51,150 15 12 8,300 4,150
Wakefield HA 26 21 16 42,000 33,281 21 16 16,000 12,077
North Yorkshire HA 128 66 49 77,267 58,017 166 125 113,316 85,166
Calderdale and Kirklees HA 34 36 27 46,647 34,985 64 48 24,035 18,026
Cornwall and Isles of Scilly HA 15 25 18 25,168 20,199 28 22 40,000 31,458
Dorset HA 77 85 64 116,132 87,099 76 57 83,327 62,495
North and East Devon HA 40 23 22 58,995 44,253 26 26 77,000 66,944
Gloucestershire HA 19 29 22 50,000 20,520 198 142 52,000 30,610
Coventry HA 3 13 10 51,116 38,337 10 8 20,704 15,528
Dudley HA 10 16 10 42,000 20,036 70 52 26,000 21,385
Herefordshire HA 4 10 1 12,000 1,600 20 18 10,000 8,895
Sandwell HA 5 37 28 49,483 37,112 11 8 5,724 4,293
Shropshire HA 14 19 14 57,000 43,022 71 51 69,000 20,162
Solihull HA 2 28 22 19,000 18,971 18 13 10,000 6,555
North Staffordshire HA 3 28 22 49,500 38,022 27 21 13,075 9,806
South Staffordshire HA 83 35 35 61,530 56,957 80 54 36,000 23,375
Walsall HA 19 35 23 79 62 30 26 20 12
Warwickshire HA 20 46 36 0 0 170 128 81,000 60,750
Wolverhampton HA 4 23 17 32,459 24,344 24 18 18,735 14,051
Worcestershire HA 10 47 45 0 0 151 113 92 69
E and N Hertfordshire HA 49 43 32 56,000 42,000 46 35 9,397 7,048
West Hertfordshire HA 4 35 26 92,181 69,136 24 20 22,293 16,720
Cambridgeshire HA 40 50 38 105,000 78,456 190 140 50,000 37,829
Norfolk HA 54 79 52 125,675 94,256 59 39 20,762 15,570
Footnote:the data is sourced from common information core quarterly monitoring returns, collected at health authority level.

Further data is available on number of people choosing the partnership option for vouchers and number choosing the independent option.