HC Deb 18 March 1998 vol 308 cc1278-9
5. Mr. Ian Bruce

If he will make a statement on trends in NHS waiting lists in Wales since May 1997; and what targets he has set over the next four years. [33430]

Mr. Win Griffiths

The latest information shows that the number of residents waiting for in-patient or day case treatment at 31 December last year had risen by 5.1 per cent. since June 1997. The number of residents waiting for out-patient treatment over the same period had decreased by 0.9 per cent. Reducing waiting lists is a Government priority, and my right hon. Friend the Chancellor announced in his Budget yesterday an additional £25.126 million next year for the health service in Wales, most of which will be used specifically to reduce the number of patients waiting for treatment to below what it was when we took office.

Mr. Bruce

I am grateful to the Minister, but like the Under-Secretary of State for Scotland, the hon. Member for Strathkelvin and Bearsden (Mr. Galbraith), and the Secretary of State for Health, he refuses to say what targets will be set for the next four years. Reducing waiting lists is a Labour manifesto commitment, but no target has been set. Surely the money given by the Chancellor is too little, too late? Does the Minister accept that, unless he sets targets for the next four years, there is no chance of the health service achieving what we all want it to achieve?

Mr. Griffiths

In Wales, the Conservative Government lamentably failed. For all their trumpeting of their achievements in the health service, 22,000 more people were waiting for treatment when they left office than when they came in. We shall use the money to ensure that fewer people are on waiting lists at the end of the next financial year than when the Conservative Government left office. We shall work out our targets exactly. I assure the hon. Gentleman that it is our objective to cut waiting lists, not to let them rise hopelessly, as his Government did over 18 years.

Mr. Hanson

Will my hon. Friend confirm that, since the general election, more than £85 million has been put into the national health service, in addition to money that was allocated by the previous Government? That is more than £1 million for every vote in the majority that the hon. Member for South Dorset (Mr. Bruce) had at the election. In-patient waiting lists increased by 22,000 in the past 18 years, which is why he has a majority of 77 votes and why there is a Labour Government.

Mr. Griffiths

My hon. Friend is right. The additional resources that my right hon. Friend the Chancellor has made available for the health service in Wales will reduce waiting lists. It is our objective to ensure that they reduce steadily over the lifetime of this Parliament.