§ Mr. Dobsonasked the Secretary of State for Social Services (1) why the waiting list figures for Bloomsbury district health authority for 31 March published by his Department on Friday 21 November were lower than those originally submitted to his Department by the health authority;
(2) what was the net change in the hospital waiting list figures for 31 March as a result of the validation process commenced in August and completed in November.
§ Mr. NewtonThe process of validating the waiting list figures submitted by district health authorities begins not in August, but as soon as each return is made over a period which spans several months. No running totals are kept centrally since such figures would have no relevance. For Bloomsbury health authority the waiting list figure published by the Department was the latest submitted by the district.