§ Mr. ToddTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the performance of the Levent ophthalmology teams contracted by Trent Strategic Health Authority; and what plans he has to extend their contracts in the Trent region. [163341]
§ Dr. LadymanThe Levent ophthalmology team contracted by Trent Strategic Health Authority (SHA) has operated on a total of 2,307 patients between September 2003 and March 2004. This exceeded the original contract volume by 859 patients.
Trent SHA report that it was very impressed by the working styles of the Levent clinics and their kind approach to patients.
The SHA is currently auditing clinical outcomes for the Levent project; which it anticipates will be completed within the next few months, when the final outcomes will be available. While the SHA has no plans to issue further contracts to Levent at this time, it has confirmed that Erewash Primary Care Trust is considering contracting further cataract surgery in 2004–05.