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Written question asked by Lord Wharton of Yarm (Conservative) on Tuesday, 15 January 2013, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Thursday, 17 January 2013. It was answered by Dan Poulter (Conservative) on Tuesday, 22 January 2013 on behalf of the Department of Health.

Plagiocephaly

Question

To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what recent representations he has received on whether treatment for plagiocephaly should be provided by the NHS;

[137970]

Answer

Plagiocephaly is a relatively common condition and is self correcting in the great majority of cases. It is for clinicians to determine in each case whether any treatment is required and it is for the local health commissioners' to decide whether to fund appropriate treatment.

Information is not collected in the format requested. The table shows the number of finished consultant episodes for children with a period of care in hospital with a diagnosis of plagiocephaly.

A count of finished consultant episodes (FCEs)1 with a primary or secondary diagnosis2 of plagiocephaly3 2007-08 to 2011-124
Activity in English NHS Hospitals and English NHS commissioned activity in the independent sector
Episodes
2007-08
 863
2008-09
 907
2009-10
 875
2010-11
 1,212
2011-12
 1,213
1 A finished consultant episode (FCE) is a continuous period of admitted patient care under one consultant within one health care provider. FCEs are counted against the year in which they end. Figures do not represent the number of different patients, as a person may have more than one episode of care within the same stay in hospital or in different stays in the same year.
2 The number of episodes where this diagnosis was recorded in any of the 20 (14 from 2002-03 to 2006-07 and seven prior to 2002-03) primary and secondary diagnosis fields in a Hospital Episode Statistics (HES) record. Each episode is only counted once, even if the diagnosis is recorded in more than one diagnosis field of the record.
3 ICD 10 code—Q67.3 plagiocephaly
4 HES figures are available from 1989-90 onwards. Changes to the figures over time need to be interpreted in the context of improvements in data quality and coverage (particularly in earlier years), improvements in coverage of independent sector activity (particularly from 2006-07) and changes in NHS practice. For example, changes in activity may be due to changes in the provision of care.
Source:
Hospital Episode Statistics (HES), Health and Social Care Information Centre.

Secondary information

Type
Written question
Reference
137970; 557 c288W
Session
2012-13
Subjects
Health services Plagiocephaly
Contains statistics
Yes
Link
View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk