§ Mr. Buchanan-SmithTo ask the Secretary of State for Scotland when the report of his review into cardiac surgery provision in Scotland will be available.
§ Mr. Michael ForsythThe National Specialist Services Advisory Committee has undertaken a review of cardiac surgery provision and is now preparing a full report which I expect to receive in the summer.
The committee is recommending that the volume of cardiac surgery undertaken in Scotland be increased over the next five years, and that facilities be provided for an additional 400 operations per year. I have decided that as part of our determined attack on waiting lists, the cardiac surgery unit at Aberdeen royal infirmary will be centrally funded to carry out 150 heart operations per year in the near future and 300 operations per year within 5 years. Funding of the centre at Edinburgh royal infirmary will be increased to allow an additional 140 operations to take place there. Last year 2,125 operations were undertaken in Scotland.
We shall be considering the committee's other recommendations when their full report is available.