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Dept of Health

Answer

Judy Mallaber: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many pensioners had eyesight tests (a) in England and (b) in Amber Valley in each year since 1997. [202117] Ms Rosie Winterton: Figures for the number of sight tests by constituency and for pensioners are not collected centrally. From 1 April 1999, we restored free sight tests under the National Health Service to those aged 60 and over. Previous to this date, records were only kept for the total number of sight tests for all patients. These figures are shown in Tables 1 and 2. Table 1: General Ophthalmic services: number of sight tests paid for in England for all patients for the years ending 31 March 1998 to 1999 _________________________________________________________________________________________________. Total sight tests for all patients (million) 1997-98 6.99 1998-99 6.99 _________________________________________________________________________________________________. Table 2: General Ophthalmic services: number of sight tests paid by South Derbyshire health authority (HA) for all patients for the years ending 31 March 1998 to 1999 _________________________________________________________________________________________________. Total sight tests for all patients (Thousand) 1997-98 85.5 1998-99 89.3 _________________________________________________________________________________________________. Tables 3 and 4 show the number of National Health Service sight tests paid for in England for the year 1999-2000 to 2003-04 and for South Derbyshire (HA) for the years ending 31 March 2000 to 2003 and the five primary care trusts (PCTs) covering the old South Derbyshire HA for the year ending 31 March 2004. Table 3: General Ophthalmic services: number of sight tests paid for in England for patients aged 60 and over for the years ending 31 March 2000 to 2004 _________________________________________________________________________________________________. Number of sight tests for aged 60 and over (Million) 1999-2000 3.3 2000-01 3.8 2001-02 4.0 2002-03 4.1 2003-04 4.3 _________________________________________________________________________________________________. Note: Eligibility for NHS sight tests was extended to patients aged 60 and over from 1 April 1999. Table 4: General ophthalmic services: number of sight tests paid by South Derbyshire HA for patients aged 60 and over for the years ending 31 March 2000 to 2004 _________________________________________________________________________________________________. HA and PCT Number of sight tests for aged 60 and over (Thousand) 1999-2000 South Derbyshire HA 37.9 2000-01 South Derbyshire HA 43.5 2001-02 South Derbyshire HA 47.9 2002-03 South Derbyshire HA 40.7 2003-04 Amber Valley PCT 6.9 Central Derby PCT 15.4 Derbyshire Dales And South Derbyshire PCT 3.8 Erewash PCT 9.5 Greater Derby PCT 7.0 _________________________________________________________________________________________________. Notes: Eligibility for NHS sight tests was extended to patients aged 60 and over from 1 April 1999. PCTs took over responsibilities from HAs in October 2002. Sight tests can not be equated to the numbers of patients. Although most people do not come back for a sight test within the year, some patients suffering from medical conditions are advised to have re-examinations sooner.

Secondary information

Type

Written question

Reference

202117; 428 c753-5W

Session

2004-05

Subjects

Eyesight Pensioners Older people Primary care trusts Testing Take-up Derbyshire Amber Valley

Contains statistics

Yes

Link

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