§ Mr. Michael McGuireasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what is the average length of time that people who live in the Ince constituency have to wait to receive treatment in the various specialties available at the Ormskirk General Hospital and Wigan Infirmary, respectively; and if she will give, in each case, details for in-patients and out-patients in each specialty, and a comparison between these figures and the area regional and national averages.
§ Dr. Owen, pursuant to his reply [Official Report, 20th December 1974, Vol. 883, c. 733], circulated the following information:
Table I relates to in-patients discharged during November 1974 and Table II to out-patient appointments given to patients referred on the dates shown. Waiting times for admission vary according to the circumstances of each case and urgent cases are admitted without delay, so that averages are misleading.
Figures corresponding to those in Table I are not available either for the region or nationally. The Report on the Hospital In-Patient Enquiry for the year 1972, the latest year for which statistics have been published, provides in Table II of the preliminary tables the waiting times for various diagnostic groups of patients admitted from waiting lists in England and 433W Wales. xc I am sending my hon. Friend a copy of the table which is based on a sample inquiry.
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TABLE I Numbers of patients discharged in November 1974, by specialty, and waiting time prior to admission from waiting lists: Wigan Infirmary Under 3 months 3–6 months 6–12 months 1–2 years Over 2 years General Medicine … … … … Paediatrics … … … … … Chest Diseases … … … … … — — — — — Geriatrics … … … … … — — — — — General Surgery … … … … 192 152 171 123 Traumatic and Orthopaedic … … … 69 13 13 14 Ophthalmology … … … … … 107 77 63 Plastic Surgery … … … … … 47 12 4 Dental Surgery … … … … … 47 38 56 23 Gynaecology … … … … … 85 57 101 153 73 Mental Illness … … … … … — — — — — Ear, Nose and Throat … … … … 240 185 298 88 Wigan Area Under 3 months 3–6 months 6–12 months 1–2 years Over 2 years General Medicine … … … … Paediatrics … … … … … Chest Diseases … … … … … Not applicable Geriatrics … … … … … Not applicable General Surgery … … … … 327 235 245 135 1 Traumatic and Orthopaedic … … … 89 13 13 14 Ophthalmology … … … … … 107 77 63 Plastic Surgery … … … … … 47 12 4 Dental Surgery … … … … … 47 38 56 23 Gynaecology … … … … … 150 102 147 192 80 Mental Illness … … … … … Not applicable Ear, Nose and Throat … … … … 367 328 415 190 22 Ormskirk General Hospital Under 3 months 3–6 months 6–12 months 1–2 years Over 2 years General Medicine … … … … Paediatrics … … … … … Chest Diseases … … … … … Geriatrics … … … … … 16 General Surgery … … … … 58 20 27 12 3 Traumatic and Orthopaedic … … … 49 8 4 Ophthalmology … … … … … Plastic Surgery … … … … … — — — — — Dental Surgery … … … … … Gynaecology … … … … … 25 11 Mental Illness … … … … … Ear, Nose and Throat … … … … 28 23 28 46 2 Lancashire Area (excluding Preston) Under 3 months 3–6 months 6–12 months 1–2 years Over 2 years General Medicine … … … … 14 Paediatrics … … … … … 24 1 8 Chest Diseases … … … … … Geriatrics … … … … … 118 General Surgery … … … … 1,234 397 404 419 293 Traumatic and Orthopaedic … … … 820 456 693 836 445 Ophthalmology … … … … … 188 87 84 73 34 Plastic Surgery … … … … … Not Applicable Dental Surgery … … … … … 134 40 75 42 19 Gynaecology … … … … … 731 128 54 28 44 Mental Illness … … … … … 20 5 1 Ear, Nose and Throat … … … … Not Available Notes: 1. Blanks in columns of figures denote no waiting time. 2. The symbol "—" denotes specialty not provided in the hospital. 3. The figures include patients from outside Ince constituency but within the hospital catchment areas. I regret that national averages for out-patient waiting times corresponding to those in Table II are not available
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TABLE II Non-urgent out-patient appointments waiting time in days as at 31st October 1974 (Wigan) and 30th November 1974 (Ormskirk) between referrals by general practitioners and first out-patient appointments. Specialty Wigan Infirmary Wigan Area Ormskirk District General Hospital Lancs. Area Northwestern Region General Medicine … … … … 84 63 35 11 14 Paediatrics … … … … … 14 14 56 2 14 Diseases of the Chest … … … … — 42 14 6 14 Dermatology … … … … … 42 35 — 6 20 Rheumatology … … … … … 28 N/A — 28 40 Geriatrics … … … … … 28 N/A — 7 10 General Surgery … … … … 49 42 28 5 20 Ear, Nose and Throat … … … … 42 49 119 4 25 Orthopaedics … … … … … 70 70 49 21 60 Ophthalmics … … … … … 56 7 56 10 20 Radiotherapy … … … … … 7 N/A — 6 4 Plastic Surgery … … … … … 14 42 — 14 24 Thoracic Surgery … … … … 7 N/A — 7 6 Dental Surgery … … … … … 270 7 28 5 20 Neurosurgery … … … … … 7 N/A — 14 25 Gynaecology … … … … … 56 35 28 6 20 Psychiatry—children … … … … 7 7 7 42 14 Mental Illness … … … … … 14 N/A 70 7 12 Note: 1. "N/A" means information is not available. 2. The symbol "—" denotes the specialty is not provided at the hospital.