§ 14. Mrs. ClwydTo ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will make a statement on out-patient and in-patient waiting lists (a) in Wales and (b) in the Cynon Valley.[25645]
§ Mr. RichardsHospital waiting lists have fallen significantly in Wales recently. In the calendar year 1995, the number of out-patients waiting for a first appointment fell 14 per cent. while the number waiting for admission for treatment in hospital fell 9 per cent.
Separate figures are not available for the Cynon Valley, but the Merthyr and Cynon Valley unit, now the North Glamorgan NHS trust, reported a fall in out-patient waiting lists of an impressive 36 per cent. in 1995. The fall in the in-patient and day case waiting list was 3 per cent. To put that last figure into perspective, I should add that, currently, no patient has to wait longer than 18 months for admission to the trust for treatment.
§ Mrs. ClwydThat is not quite as splendid as it sounds. More than 2, 000 people in the Merthyr and Cynon Valley area have been waiting more than one year for admission to hospital, and some of them are in considerable discomfort and distress. Is that situation due to the fact that 2, 500 beds have disappeared from Wales since 1990 and that hospital consultants spend much of their time re-admitting people to hospital who should never have been discharged in the first place—but were, because beds were not available?
§ Mr. RichardsI wish that the hon. Lady would stop knocking the national health service—just as her colleagues do—thereby trying to undermine morale in the NHS. Of all Opposition Members, the hon. Lady probably knocks most. I wish also that the hon. Lady would give the new North Glamorgan NHS trust a chance, given that it has been in existence only a few days and I have only recently appointed a chairman.