§ Mr. GalbraithTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will publish a table showing(a) the total average waiting time for National Health Service inpatient treatment in each specialty in England and Wales in each year since 1979 and (b) the average waiting time for all specialties in England and Wales in each year since 1979.
Median waiting time (weeks) by specialty, NHS hospitals, England 1979–851 Specialty 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 All non-psychiatric specialties 8 7 7 6 7 7 7 General medicine 2 1 2 2 2 2 2 Paediatrics 3 3 2 3 3 2 2 Thoracic medicine 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 Dermatology 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 Neurology 3 2 2 3 2 3 3 Cardiology 5 5 5 6 6 5 5 Rehabilitation 2 2 2 2 3 3 3 Rheumatology 4 3 4 4 3 3 3 Geriatric medicine 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 General surgery 6 5 5 5 5 5 5 Ear, nose, and throat 14 12 11 11 13 12 12 Traumatic and orthopaedic surgery 13 12 11 11 13 12 12 Ophthalmology 13 11 10 10 11 11 13 Radiotherapy 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 Urology 8 7 7 7 8 8 8 Plastic surgery 14 13 12 12 11 11 12 Thoracic surgery 3 2 2 2 3 3 3 Oral surgery 13 11 11 12 14 14 15 Neurosurgery 4 4 4 5 5 5 5 Gynaecology 7 6 6 5 6 6 6 General practitioner (other) 12 8 7 5 6 4 5 All other specialist units 4 4 6 4 5 5 5 1 The latest year available centrally. Source: Hospital In-Patient Enquiry (HIPE).