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Written question asked by Norman Lamb (Liberal Democrat) on Wednesday, 26 March 2008, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Monday, 31 March 2008. It was answered by Ann Keen (Labour) on Thursday, 3 April 2008 on behalf of the Department of Health.

Eyesight: Testing

Question
To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many free eye examinations were carried out by the NHS for (a) children under 16 years old and (b) adults entitled to free eye examinations in each of the last five years.
Answer

The latest numbers relating to General Ophthalmic Services (GOS) sight tests paid for by the national health service, by patient eligibility, are available in table 3 of the ““General Ophthalmic Services: Activity Statistics for England and Wales: April 2007-September 2007”” report. This information is for the first six months of 2007-08.This report, published on 26 March 2007, has been placed in the Library and is also available at:"www.ic.nhs.uk/statistics-and-datacollections/primarycare/eyecare/generalophthalmicservices:-activity-statistics-for-england-and-wales:-april-2007--september-2007"The number of GOS sight tests paid for by the NHS, by patient eligibility, in England and in Wales, for the year ending 31 March 2007 are available in table B4 of ““General Ophthalmic Services: Activity Statistics for England and Wales, Year Ending 31 March 2007”” report.This report, published 31 July 2007, is available in the Library and is also available at:"www.ic.nhs.uk/pubs/gosactivity310307"The number of GOS sight tests paid for by the NHS, by patient eligibility, in England and in Wales, for the year ending 31 March 2006 are available in table A4 of the ““General Ophthalmic Services: Activity Statistics for England and Wales, Year Ending 31 March 2006”” report.This report, published 27 July 2006, is available in the Library and is also available at:"www.ic.nhs.uk/pubs/genophservsactivitystats"In the above reports, information is provided for children aged 0 to 15 and by various adult eligibility groups.The number of GOS sight tests paid for by the NHS, by patient eligibility, in England, Wales, Scotland and Great Britain for the years ending 31 March 1996 to 2005 are available in table 3 of ““General Ophthalmic Services: Consultation tables for England, Wales and Scotland, 2004-05””. Information is available for children (aged 15 and under), students in full-time education (aged 16 to 18) and other eligible adults.This report, published 30 November 2005, has been placed in the Library and is also available at:"www.ic.nhs.uk/pubs/genopth2005"All reports have been published by the Information Centre for health and social care.

Secondary information

Type
Written question
Reference
474 c1298-9W; 197967
Session
2007-08
Related items
Deposited Paper DEP2008-0970
Thursday, 3 April 2008
Deposited papers
House of Commons
Subjects
Eyesight Testing
Link
View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk