Written question asked by Greg Mulholland (Liberal Democrat) on Friday, 1 June 2007, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Wednesday, 6 June 2007. It was answered by Ivan Lewis (Labour) on Wednesday, 6 June 2007 on behalf of the Department of Health.

Plagiocephaly

Question: (2) what her most recent estimate is of the number of children with deformational plagiocephaly;

Answer: Information on the number of cases of deformational (more commonly known as positional) plagiocephaly is not collected centrally. It is not, therefore possible to estimate the cost to the national health service of providing STARband treatment to every child who has this usually self-correcting condition. It is for doctors to decide whether to prescribe and for primary care trusts to decide whether to fund treatment with special helmets, such as STARband.

Secondary information