§ Tim LoughtonTo ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the answers to the hon. Member for North Devon (Nick Harvey) of 24 April 2001,Official Report, columns 171–72W, on digital hearing aids, whether first wave sites will receive funding for the continued provision of digital hearing aids throughout the financial year 2002–03; and if the allocated money for national roll-out will cover two years. [14568]
§ Jacqui Smith[holding answer 13 November 2001]: I apologise to the hon. Member for the delay in responding to this question. I refer the hon. Member to the reply that my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State gave my hon. Friend the Member for Blackpool, North and Fleetwood (Mrs. Humble) on 5 March 2002, Official Report, column 192W.
The first wave trusts will receive funding to allow them to continue providing digital hearing aids throughout 2002–03. The £20 million announced on 24 December 2001 will also allow another 30 sites to be providing digital hearing aids by the end of 2002–03.
§ Dr. FoxTo ask the Secretary of State for Health how many patients have been given(a) digital hearing aids and (b) analogue aids at each of the designated pilot sites since the instigation of each trust's pilot status. [16852]
§ Jacqui SmithI apologise to the hon. Member for the delay in responding to this question. I refer the hon. Member to the reply that my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State gave my hon. Friend the Member for Blackpool, North and Fleetwood (Mrs. Humble) on 5 March 2002,Official Report, column 192W.
The Royal National Institute for Deaf People manages the project on behalf of the Department. The project team has provided information showing that by the end of January 2002, 21,347 adults had been assessed for digital aids by the 20 trusts involved in the pilot project. 16,352 of these had been fitted with 22,346 digital hearing aids. In addition some 400 other patients had received analogue aids. It is not possible to break down these figures by site.