Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many hospital admissions there were for constipation in children in 2013; and what the estimated cost to the NHS was of treating such admissions.

In 2012-13, Hospital Episode Statistics for England recorded 13,037 admissions with a primary diagnosis of constipation, for patients aged 18 years or under. Admissions do not represent the number of patients, as a person may have more than one admission within the period.

We are advised that NHS England does not collect information centrally on the cost of treating these admissions.

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence published a quality standard on constipation in children and young people in May 2014 which can be found at:

www.nice.org.uk/guidance/qs62/informationforpublic