HC Deb 07 December 1954 vol 535 cc23-4W
66. Miss Herbison

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland the average time a tubercular patient must wait for an operation in Lanarkshire; and how this time compares with that for the rest of Scotland.

Mr. J. Stuart

From three to six months, according to the type of case, from the date on which the surgeon decides that a major thoracic operation is the appropriate treatment. Comparable figures for different areas are not available since the various waiting lists are not compiled on the same basis.

75. Mr. M. MacMillan

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland how many surgeons, fully trained in thoracic surgery, are available in each of the Scottish hospital regions; what accommodation, in terms of beds, is available in each tuberculosis thoracic surgery centre; the present average waiting time for patients requiring this type of operation in each area; the number or estimated number of patients waiting for this operation at each regional centre; and how many have elected in each region to have the operation performed as private paying patients.

Mr. J. Stuart

I am having the available information extracted as far as practicable in the form sought by the hon. Member, and will circulate it in the OFFICIAL REPORT as soon as possible.

76. Mr. M. MacMillan

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland whether he is aware that, because of the long wait by tuberculosis patients throughout the North and Islands of Scotlands to have thoracic operations pea-formed, some patients have been forced to have the operation carried out as private paying patients, at a cost of about £300; whether he is satisfied that this problem is being dealt with as efficiently as possible; and if he will make a statement on his plans to increase the accommodation and the number of fully-trained surgeons.

Mr. J. Stuart

I am aware that a few patients have been operated upon under private arrangements in Aberdeen, but the number is very small in relation to the numbers treated otherwise. I have been concerned for some time at the relatively long waiting list in the North of Scotland, and it was with this in mind that I arranged with the British Red Cross Society for the use of facilities at Tor-Na-Dee Sanatorium. In addition, the North-Eastern Regional Hospital Board is considering the possibility of increasing the volume of this work at Waodend Hospital, Aberdeen. So far as can be foreseen, the accommodation provided and the number of thoracic surgeons now available or in training are likely to be sufficient to deal with the problem in Scotland as a whole, once current waiting lists have been overtaken.