To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people diagnosed with glaucoma there are in (a) Castle Point and (b) Essex. (266593)

The information is not available in the format requested.

The number of national health service sight tests, by patient eligibility, including ‘Diabetics/Glaucoma sufferer’' is available in Table B3 of Annex C of the “General Ophthalmic Services: Activity Statistics for England and Wales—year ending 31 March 2008 report”.

Information is provided by primary care trust (PCT) and by strategic health authority (SHA) but is not available by parliamentary constituency.

This report, published on 20 November 2008, has been placed in the Library and is also available on the NHS Information Centre website at:

www.ic.nhs.uk/pubs/gosactivity0708p2

The figures in the above table are not the number of people diagnosed as ‘Diabetics/Glaucoma sufferer’ but the number of NHS sight tests performed where the patient eligibility is recorded as ‘Diabetes/Glaucoma sufferer’ on the form.

Patients may qualify for an NHS sight test on more than one criterion. However, they would only be recorded against one criterion on the form. Patients are more likely to be recorded according to their clinical need rather than their age. For example, a patient aged over 60, with glaucoma, is likely to be recorded in the glaucoma category only. The count by eligibility is therefore approximate.

Source:

NHS Information Centre

To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much his Department has spent on (a) treatment of and (b) support for people diagnosed with glaucoma in (i) Castle Point and (ii) Essex county in the last 12 months. (266594)

This information is not held centrally.

It is the responsibility of primary care trusts to ensure that the services they commission meet the needs of the communities that they serve. This includes the commissioning of services for those people with glaucoma.