§ 36. 36. Mr. Blenkinsopasked the Minister of Health what is the latest available figure for those waiting for admission to hospital; and how this compares with twelve months previously.
§ Mr. Walker-SmithAt the end of June, 1958, there were 442,000 names on the waiting lists of N.H.S. hospitals in England and Wales. This figure was about 1 per cent. higher than that for June, 1957.
§ Mr. BlenkinsopIs the Minister aware that there is great anxiety about the fact that during the last two years there has been a steady increase in the waiting list as compared with experience during some years before? What action is he taking to try to secure a correction of this very disquieting tendency?
§ Mr. Walker-SmithNo, Sir; it has not been a steady increase. The figures fluctuate somewhat. Indeed, the figure at 31st March this year, for example, was slightly lower than the figure at 31st March, 1957. In regard to the previous years to which the hon. Gentleman referred, he will be glad to know that the figures are, of course, a good deal lower than they were when he himself was concerned with these matters.
§ Mr. BlenkinsopBut does the right hon. and learned Gentleman not regard it as a really serious matter that, after a great number of years during which more facilities for capital expenditure have become available, one would have thought, so little has been done to overcome the problem of these very serious waiting lists?
§ Mr. Walker-SmithWe are making steady and not unsatisfactory progress. We are spending a steadily increasing amount on capital development for hospital construction and improvement. It is true that these things fluctuate. If the hen. Gentleman checks his recollection, he will find that the waiting list was higher when he left the Ministry of Health than when he entered it.