§ 11. Mr. Michael J. MartinTo ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what information he has on how many people are awaiting angiogram examinations within the Greater Glasgow health board area.
§ Mr. Michael ForsythAt 31 December 1990 the number of patients on the Greater Glasgow health board cardiology waiting list, which includes angiography, was 656. The mean waiting time for those patients admitted in the three-month period up to December 1990 was 44.7 days.
§ Mr. MartinHeart specialists to whom I have spoken are very worried about the length of the waiting time for angiogram examinations. As the Minister knows, the examinations can determine whether a patient should go on to have heart surgery. In some cases, however, angiography can be used in relation to remedial treatment for patients who will not need surgery. Many of the surgeons are worried that patients are kept waiting for so long that often by the time they are examined and it is discovered that they need heart surgery, they are too weak to undergo such surgery. Does not that mean that the long waiting list is placing some patients under sentence of death?
§ Mr. ForsythThe hon. Gentleman is right to emphasise the importance of the size of the waiting list, but I should point out to him that while in September last year the figure was 753, by December it had been reduced to 656 —a reduction of 12.;88 per cent. I will ensure, however, that the concern that the hon. Gentleman has expressed is drawn to the attention of the Greater Glasgow health board in the hope that further progress can be made.