§ Mr. Ashleyasked the Secretary of State for Social Services how many people are currently waiting for a first appointment with an orthopaedic surgeon in Staffordshire area health authority.
§ Mr. Ashleyasked the Secretary of State for Social Services how long is the current average time that people have to wait for a first appointment with an orthopaedic surgeon in the Staffordshire area health authority and in each of the regional health authorities.
§ Mr. MoyleTwenty-three weeks in Staffordshire. Information for each of the regional health authorities is not available centrally and could only be obtained at disproportionate time and cost.
§ Mr. Ashleyasked the Secretary of State for Social Services (1) how many people are on waiting lists for (a) urgent and (b) non-urgent orthopaedic operations in Staffordshire area health authority; and if he will express this as a number per 1,000 population and give comparable figures for each of the regional health authorities;
(2) what is the average length of time patients have to wait for (a) urgent and (b) non-urgent orthopaedic operations in Staffordshire area health authority and in each of the regional health authorities.
§ Mr. MoyleMeaningful figures for average waiting times cannot be given. At 30th September 1977, the latest date 439W for which information is centrally avail able, the position was as follows:
URGENT On list for more than one month All cases Per 1,000 population (all cases) Staffordshire Area Health Authority … … 69 77 0.08 Northern Regional Health Authority … … 318 441 0.14 Yorkshire Regional Health Authority … … 199 246 0.07 Trent Regional Health Authority … … 1,110 1,267 0.28 East Anglia Regional Health Authority … 514 667 0.37 North West Thames Regional Health Authority 258 343 0.10 North East Thames Regional Health Authority 440 684 0.18 South East Thames Regional Health Authority 844 1,038 0.29 South West Thames Regional Health Authority 509 662 0.22 Wessex Regional Health Authority … … 459 668 0.25 Oxford Regional Health Authority … … 405 472 0.21 South Western Regional Health Authority … 326 470 0.16 West Midlands Regional Health Authority … 508 634 0.12 Mersey Regional Health Authority … … 596 716 0.29 North Western Regional Health Authority … 334 472 0.12
NON-URGENT On list for more than one year All cases Per 1,000 population (all cases) Staffordshire Area Health Authority … … 336 1,995 2.00 Northern Regional Health Authority … … 1,150 4,753 1.52 Yorkshire Regional Health Authority … … 1,255 5,516 1.54 Trent Regional Health Authority … … 4,233 10,414 0.94 East Anglia Regional Health Authority … 1,117 3,525 1.95 North West Thames Regional Health Authority 2,082 6,570 1.91 North East Thames Regional Health Authority 1,321 6,080 1.62 South East Thames Regional Health Authority 2,272 7,074 1.98 South West Thames Regional Health Authority 690 4,458 1.49 Wessex Regional Health Authority … … 1,352 5,196 1.93 Oxford Regional Health Authority … … 1,489 5,293 2.39 South Western Regional Health Authority … 1,139 5,577 1.86 West Midlands Regional Health Authority … 3,740 11,831 2.29 Mersey Regional Health Authority … … 1,272 4,138 1.66 North Western Regional Health Authority … 3,622 9,785 2.39
§ Mr. Ashleyasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what is the maximum time that a patient has had to wait for (a) an urgent orthopaedic operation and (b) a non-urgent orthopaedic operation in the Staffordshire area health authority.
§ Mr. MoyleFor an urgent operation—up to four weeks depending on the degree of urgency. For a non-urgent operation—two years.
§ Mr. Ashleyasked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will detail the constraints which are currently preventing a reduction in waiting time for orthopaedic operations in the Staffordshire area health authority.
§ Mr. MoyleThe main factors affecting waiting times are the availability of facilities, the competing demands of other specialties and a general shortage of anaesthetists. Changes in operating techniques and treatment patterns and an increase in the number of emergency admis-440W sions have placed an additional burden on orthopaedic facilities.
§ Mr. Ashleyasked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will give the number of (a) orthopaedic consultants and (b) senior registrars working for the National Health Service in the Staffordshire area health authority, giving the numbers for each hospital, the number of sessions each works, whether they do private work and the percentage of time that is spent on National Health Service work.
§ Mr. MoyleInformation on staff in these grades is only available centrally on a regional basis. At 30th September 1977, there were 70 consultants and 40 senior registrars in the specialty of traumatic and orthopaedic surgery in the West Midlands region. Of the consultants, one held an honorary contract with the NHS, and in all the whole time equivalent was 56.5. The senior registrars were all whole time. The work done by a doctor—other 441W than a consultant with a whole-time contract to the NHS—outside the hours for which he is contracted is his own responsibility and no information is available about this.
§ Mr. Ashleyasked the Secretary of State for Social Services it he will give the number of orthopaedic operations performed on (a) National Health Service patients and (b) private patients in National Health Service hospitals in the Staffordshire area health authority in each of the last five years.
§ Mr. MoyleThe information is as follows:
On NHS Patients On Private Patients in NHS Hospitals 1973 4,517 115 1974 4,793 125 1975 4,436 104 1976 4,704 145 1977 4,784 181
§ Mr. Weetchasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what is the number of orthopaedic consultants per 10,000 of the population in (a) the Suffolk area health authority, (b) the Ipswich health district and (c) the eastern regional health authority; and how these figures compare with the national average.
§ Mr. MoyleAt 30th September 1977, there were 0.12 consultants in traumatic and orthopaedic surgery per 10,000 of the population in the East Anglia region, compared with 0.11 in England as a whole. Figures are not collected centrally for consultant staffing in non-teaching areas or in districts.