Occupational Therapy

Mrs. Iris Robinson
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many vacancies for occupational therapists there are within the national health service in Northern Ireland. [111797]

Mr. Browne
As at the 30th September 2002 there were occupational therapy vacancies amounting to a Whole Time Equivalent (WTE) of 46.31. Occupational therapy vacancies detailed by Trust are given in the table below. ----------------------------
|Trust1                    |
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|Homefirst Community       |
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|North and West Belfast    |
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|Sperrin Lakeland          |
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|Armagh and Dungannon      |
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|Causeway                  |
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|Mater Hospital            |
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|United Hospitals Group    |
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|Craigavon and Banbridge   |
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|Altnagelvin               |
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|Foyle (including Westcare)|
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|Royal Group of Hospitals  |
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|Belfast City Hospital     |
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|Newry and Mourne          |
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|Craigavon Area Hospital   |
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|Ulster Hospital           |
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|Green Park                |
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|South and East Belfast    |
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|Total                     |
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Mrs. Iris Robinson
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many individuals are awaiting speech therapy assessment in Northern Ireland; and how many have been waiting for longer than six months. [111802]

Mr. Browne
Information on the number of individuals awaiting speech therapy assessment is not collected centrally, and could be provided only at disproportionate cost. However, information is collected centrally on completed waiting times for a first outpatient appointment of an episode of care with a community speech and language therapist. In the quarter ending 31 December 2002, 2,480 persons attended their first out-patient appointment. Of these, 209 (8.4 per cent.) had waited for six months or more.

Mrs. Iris Robinson
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many people are awaiting occupational therapy assessment in Northern Ireland; and how many have waited more than six months. [111798]

Mr. Browne
At 31 December 2002 (the latest date for which such information is available), there were 9,784 persons awaiting assessment by community occupational therapists, of which 3,697 (37.8 per cent.) had been waiting for six months or more.