§ Mr. BurstowTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many birth defects there were in(a) England, (b) each region and (c) each strategic health authority in each year since 1997; and if he will make a statement. [162216]
§ Ruth KellyThe information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.
Letter from Len Cook to Mr. Paul Burstow, dated 22 March 2002:
647WAs National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your recent question asking for the number of birth defects in (a) England, (b) each region and (c) strategic health authorities since 1997.The Office for National Statistics (ONS) is responsible for maintaining the National Congenital Anomaly System (NCAS) notifications in England and Wales. These notifications are collected only for live and stillbirths (e.g. terminations are excluded) and are provided by NHS Trusts on a voluntary basis either directly to ONS or via local congenital anomaly registers that exchange data with ONS. In 1997 there were no registers exchanging information with NCAS. By 2001, NCAS received more complete information from four local congenital anomaly registers through multi-source ascertainment.As a result, numbers of notifications in England and Wales have increased since 1997. These registers cover all births in Wales and 24 per cent. of births in England. For the remaining areas NCAS relies solely on SD56 notification forms and is likely to be less complete. Up to eight malformations are recorded on the system for each baby.Estimates of the figures requested, covering the period 1997–2001 (latest available year) are shown in the attached table.
Estimated numbers of malformations recorded, 1997–2001, England, Government Office Regions, Strategic Health Authorities 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 England 6,753 6,516 8,575 9,273 8,027 Government Office Regions North East 211 276 289 215 145 North West 1,122 1,118 1,257 1,744 1,471 Yorkshire and the Humber 913 740 1,103 1,186 973 East Midlands 534 515 1,593 1,480 1,565 West Midlands 713 705 754 690 623 East 624 634 693 737 721 London 951 907 871 1,375 1,157 South East 985 980 968 991 762 South West 634 641 1,047 855 610 Strategic Health Authorities Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire 292 276 256 207 220 Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire 148 192 175 312 311 Essex 184 166 262 218 190 North West London 185 204 245 568 490 North Central London 113 77 89 99 114 North East London 187 202 171 204 175 South East London 164 195 145 202 145 South West London 302 229 221 302 233 Northumberland, Tyne and Wear 147 159 190 141 94 County Durham and Tees 130 117 99 74 51 North and East Yorkshire and Northern Lincolnshire 266 176 250 256 216 West Yorkshire 169 196 202 270 170 Cumbria and Lancashire 322 339 327 299 287 Greater Manchester 532 537 643 610 585 Cheshire and Merseyside 268 242 287 835 599 Thames Valley 219 274 272 331 225 Hampshire and Isle of Wight 190 200 233 158 159 Kent and Medway 158 153 185 244 166 Surrey and Sussex 418 353 278 258 212 Avon, Gloucestershire and Wiltshire 238 254 284 324 276 South West Peninsula 271 318 665 443 262 Dorset and Somerset 125 69 98 88 72 South Yorkshire 478 368 651 660 587 Trent 277 270 1,083 916 817 Leicestershire, Northamptonshire and Rutland 257 245 510 564 748 Shropshire and Staffordshire 185 217 218 192 141 Birmingham and The Black Country 339 316 355 354 347 Coventry, Warwickshire, Hereford and Worcester 189 172 181 144 135 Source:
Estimates based on numbers of babies notified to National Congenital Anomaly System at 31 July 2002 (Health Statistics Quarterly no. 16 Annual update: Congenital anomaly statistics—notifications 2001) and the number of malformations recorded for each notified case.