§ Mr. RiddickTo ask the Secretary of State for Health how many(a) hip replacement operations and (b) eye cataract operations were carried out by the national health service in 1979 and in the last year for which figures are available.
§ Mr. DorrellIn 1979 the national health service carried out almost 29,000 hip replacement operations and almost 40,000 eye lens operations, most of which were for cataracts. The latest statistics show that in 1988–89 hip replacement operations had increased to almost 42,000 and eye lens operations to almost 79,000.