§ Mr. GrayTo ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to his answer to the hon. Member for Meriden (Mrs. Spelman) of 20 July 2001,Official Report, column 738, on neonatal screening, when his Department will make an announcement setting out a timetable for the national implementation of universal newborn hearing screening. [60107]
§ Jacqui Smith[holding answer 10 June 2002]: The newborn hearing screening pilot was the first phase of a national roll-out of the service. The pilot phase has provided important information, about the impact on audiology and other support services, and has provided the data which will enable us to plan a national roll-out to a sensible, feasible time scale ending with full implementation by the end of 2004–05.