HC Deb 11 March 1991 vol 187 cc351-2W
Ms. Harman

To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will publish the survey of laboratory backlogs and workload carried out in the second half of 1990 referred to in his answer of 21 February,Official Report, column 240.

Mrs. Virginia Bottomley

The survey dealt only with those district health authorities in which the processing time for cervical smear tests was over one month on 1 July 1990. These are listed in the table with the length of the backlog and the number of smears received in the period March to May 1990. Since the length of backlogs changes over time, the current position is likely to vary from that shown. Two out of three health authorities processed smear tests within the requested one month.

Survey of laboratory backlogs and workloads: July 1990
DHA Backlog (weeks) Smears Received March-May 1990
Northern
North West Durham 7.5 3,171
Newcastle 5.5 24,053
North Tyneside
Northumberland
Yorkshire
Hull 7 13,116
East Yorkshire
Grimsby 6 5,684
Bradford 6 12,956
Airedale
Wakefield 6 5,589
Trent
South Derbyshire 6 16,061
Nottingham 12 22,205
Doncaster 12 7,942
Rotherham 8 n/a
Sheffield 6 14,420
East Anglia
Cambridge 12 8,254
DHA Backlog (weeks) Smears Received March-May 1990
West Norfolk 6 n/a
North West Thames
North Bedfordshire 8 6,396
Barnet 5 n/a
North East Thames
North East Essex 12 8,155
Southend 11 11,144
Haringey 5 4,623
Basildon and Thurrock 13 8,091
Redbridge 14 5,260
West Essex 10 6,933
Mid Essex 6.5 8,769
Enfield 5.5 n/a
South East Thames
Canterbury/Thanet 5 7,510
Dartford/Gravesend 5 6,144
Medway 5 8,244
Tunbridge Wells 7 6,167
Greenwich 12 3,975
Bromley 7 9,300
Lewisham and North Southwark (Guy's) 13 3,630
South West Thames
Worthing 9 n/a
Merton/Sutton 5 n/a
South West Surrey 7 n/a
Wessex
West Dorset 5 n/a
Portsmouth 8.5 n/a
Southampton 5 n/a
Swindon 7 n/a
Bath 8 n/a
Oxford
Oxfordshire 5.5 n/a
East Berkshire 10 10,915
Aylesbury Vale 5 12,969
South Western
Bristol and Weston 5 14,911
Frenchay
Southmead
Cornwall 7 11,651
Exeter 7 11,959
Torbay 7 6,708
West Midlands
Herefordshire 6 4,443
Worcestershire 8 5,557
Shropshire 7 12,295
South Warwickshire 6 7,349
Central Birmingham (part) 5 8,072
West Birmingham 5 8,010
Coventry 5 10,569
Mersey
Liverpool (part) 5 4,016
St. Helens and Knowlsey 6.5 5,820
Chester 6 6,161
North Western
West Lancashire 8 1,491
Bolton 7 7,698
Rochdale 10 4,174
Stockport 8 3,212

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