§ Mr. Foulkesasked the Secretary of State for. Social Services if he will now take steps to collect information about the numbers of people awaiting treatment from hospitals for particular operations, including (a) hip replacements, (b) cataract operations and (c) hearing aid fittings.
§ Mr. John PattenWe have no plans to collect information routinely on in-patient waiting lists for particular operations. Hospital waiting lists are normally categorised according to the speciality of the consultant but not according to the intended method of treatment. Such detailed information could be collected centrally only at a cost disproportionate to any use to which the information could be put.