HC Deb 16 March 2004 vol 419 c258W
Mrs. Iris Robinson

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what assessment he has made of the merits of publishing(a) caesarean rates and (b) general outcomes for individual consultant obstetricians in Northern Ireland. [160616]

Angela Smith

Information on caesarean section rates in Northern Ireland is maintained on the Child Health Systems of the four Health and Social Services Boards. This information is routinely available on request, but there are no plans at present for wider publication.

There are no plans to make information on caesarean section rates for individual consultant obstetricians in Northern Ireland routinely available. Casemix issues and other factors render the publication of such information unreliable as an indicator of performance and can invite inappropriate comparisons of individual rates of caesarean section.