To ask the Secretary of State for Health what recent assessment he has made of progress in using NHS numbers as a national unique patient identifier in respect of abortion operations; what proportion of such operations performed in the last 12 months were assigned an NHS number; whether that proportion has increased since September 2008; and whether the requirement to use NHS numbers in such operations from 18 September 2009 applies to independent clinics who perform abortions under NHS contract. (290273)

This information is not collected centrally. The Department currently has no plans to use national health service numbers as a unique patient identifier in respect of abortion operations.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many repeat abortions there were in each primary care trust area in each of the last five years. (291583)

The information requested has been placed in the Library.