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Dept of Trade and Industry

Answer

Mr. Ennis: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what the medical assessment rate per month is for claims that are waiting to be completed for the miners' compensation scheme for (a) Barnsley and (b) Doncaster. [158194] Mr. Hain: Claimants are usually invited to attend an appointment to undergo the Medical Assessment Procedure, MAP, at a centre within a 25-mile radius of their residence. In the Barnsley area, as defined by the postcodes S70, S72, S73 and S75, there is a test centre serving residents and the surrounding 25-mile region. Claimants residing in Doncaster are served by centres in Huddersfield, Leeds, Mexborough, Pontefract and Sheffield. Each centre, when fully resourced with a respiratory specialist, lung function technician and administration staff, is capable of carrying out a minimum of 20 appointments per week, 40 in the case of Barnsley. The table shows the number of MAPs undertaken and appointments booked to date at each centre: _________________________________________________________________________________________________. Test centre MAPs undertaken Appointments booked Barnsley 523 163 Leeds 284 3 Huddersfield 37 6 Mexborough 408 181 Sheffield 443 115 Pontefract 586 214 _________________________________________________________________________________________________. The number of MAPs undertaken per week depends largely on the availability of respiratory specialists. Over the next three months, two new respiratory specialists working a minimum of 10 sessions per week each are scheduled to start work in Yorkshire and north-east England. Three more specialists working between six and 10 sessions per week each are also scheduled to start over this period.

Secondary information

Type

Written question

Reference

158194; 367 c226W

Session

2000-01

Subjects

Compensation Industrial diseases Medical examinations Mining Doncaster Barnsley

Contains statistics

Yes

Link

View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk