§ 20. Mr. W. Griffithsasked the Minister of Health whether he will state the numbers on the waiting list for admission to hospitals in the Manchester Regional Hospital Board's area at the latest convenient date.
§ Mr. R. Thompson56,772 at 31st December last.
§ Mr. GriffithsIs the hon. Gentleman aware that that is about 9,000 more than the figures I obtained for 1957 and that at that time in the Manchester region there were about four times as many on the waiting list as in the Liverpool region, about three times the number on the waiting list in the Leeds region, and about twice the number on the waiting list of the average London hospital? Is he aware that there is great and growing anger about this situation in Manchester, particularly as it affects the maternity service, about which we have warned him and the Minister repeatedly? Will he bear these facts in mind when he is considering the size of the new hospital referred to in an earlier Question and to be sited in South Manchester?
§ Mr. ThompsonNo, I could not accept the hon. Member's figures entirely I 17 think he had in mind the totality of the matter, whereas my reply was related to his Question, which was about the numbers on the waiting list strictly for the hospitals of the regional board. On that, the corresponding figure for the end of 1957 was 55,309 and for 1956 58,035.