§ Mr. Wintertonasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what is the average length of waiting lists for the admission of non-emergency cases to the Macclesfield West Park Hospital and Macclesfield Infirmary; and to what extent these lists have been reduced in the last five years.
§ Dr. OwenAverages are misleading as waiting times for admission vary according to the circumstances of individual cases. However, the numbers on the waiting lists for the two hospitals on the dates shown were as follows:
Year Macclesfield West Park Hospital Macclesfield Infirmary 31st December 1969 92 874 31st December 1970 122 918 31st December 1971 112 810 December 31st 1972 118 921 31st December 1973 261 794 31st March 1974 276 640
§ Mr. Wintertonasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what is the number of people on hospital waiting lists in the area covered by the East Cheshire Area Health Authority; what percentage this is per 1,000 population; and how this compares with the national average.
§ Dr. OwenOn 31st December 1973, 1,490 people were awaiting admission to hospitals in the present Macclesfield 93W district of the Cheshire Area Health Authority. This represented 8.82 per 1,000 population and compared with a national figure of 10.95.
§ Mr. Whitlockasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what are the waiting times for appointments for patients at the out-patients departments at each of the hospitals of the Nottingham Area Health Authority; and what steps are being taken to obviate lengthy periods of waiting for patients.
§ Dr. David OwenWaiting time for new non-urgent out-patient appointments varies, according to specialty, from one week to three months. In the orthopaedic surgery and the ear, nose and throat specialties at the Nottingham General Hospital and in the orthopaedic surgery and gynaecology specialties at the Not-
Waiting Time (as at 31st March 1974) Up to 3 months 3–6 months 6–12 months Over 12 months Workshop and Retford District General Surgery … 111 54 64 52 Orthopaedics … 68 48 55 29 Gynaecology … 200 92 51 38 Mansfield and Newark District … General Surgery … 175 127 95 161 Orthopaedic … 272 235 241 174 E.N.T. … 193 127 204 108 Gynaecology … 326 162 106 18 Ophthalmology … 66 16 2 5 Dental Surgery … 12 26 19 32 South Nottingham District … General Surgery … 216 153 93 80 Orthopaedics … 18 6 1 45 E.N.T. … 216 266 247 282 Dental Surgery … 52 67 81 127 Ophthalmic Surgery … 81 107 108 165 Gynaecology … 303 198 161 15 North Nottingham District … General Surgery … 255 78 26 14 Orthopaedics … 86 41 61 24 Plastic Surgery … 105 116 169 1,150 Thoracic Surgery … 24 2 1 — Gynaecology … 221 26 11 30 Waiting times for operations in the two southern districts of Nottingham will improve as additional facilities now being developed are brought into use. In Workshop and Ret ford additional orthopaedic and surgical beds will be brought into use shortly.
In Mansfield and Newark attempts have been made to reduce waiting times by the allocation of special beds and theatre time to short-stay surgery.
94WTingham City Hospital waiting times fox some patients exceed 13 weeks. The area health authority has under review measures to reduce waiting times but major improvements in these specialties are not likely to be possible until the additional facilities at the new University Hospital, now under construction, become available.
§ Mr. Whitlockasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what are the waiting periods for operations in the various specialities of each of the hospitals of the Nottingham Area Health Authority; and what steps are being taken to reduce waiting periods.
§ Dr. OwenWaiting periods for operations in various specialities in the four health districts comprising Nottingham AHA(T) are as follows: