Written question asked by John Cummings (Labour) on Wednesday, 28 April 2004, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Tuesday, 18 May 2004. It was answered by Melanie Johnson (Labour) on Tuesday, 18 May 2004 on behalf of the Department of Health.

Dept of Health

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many senior citizens took advantage of free eye tests in the area covered by the Easington Primary Care Trust in (a) 2002 and (b) 2003. - Inc figures.

Answer: Mr. Cummings: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many senior citizens took advantage of free eye tests in the area covered by the Easington Primary Care Trust in (a) 2002 and (b) 2003. [170120] Miss Melanie Johnson: Figures for the number of sight tests by primary care trust (PCT) are not available for the years 2002 and 2003. PCTs took over the responsibilities of health authorities in England from October 2002. Data are collected by eligibility as opposed to numbers of senior citizens. In 2002-03 the total number of national health service sight tests paid for patients aged 60 and over in the Co. Durham and Tees Valley Strategic Health Authority (SHA) for the year 2002-03 was 92,430. The total eligible for a free sight test for those aged 60 and over was 243,770. The total number of NHS sight tests paid for by the SHA in 2002-03 was 225,350 Sight tests can not be equated to the numbers of patients.

Secondary information