§ Mr. MilburnTo ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what were the (i) average waiting times and (ii) the year end waiting list for(a) in-patient and (b) out-patient treatment in ophthalmology for each health and social services board and for Northern Ireland in each year since 1985.
93W
§ Mr. AncramThe information requested is provided in the tables:
Median waiting time by months waiting—In-patients At 31 March Eastern Board Western Board Northern Ireland 1985 0–2 0–2 0–2 1986 3–5 0–2 0–2 1987 3–5 0–2 3–5 1988 3–5 3–5 3–5 1989 3–5 3–5 3–5 1990 6–8 6–8 6–8 1991 6–8 6–8 6–8 1992 6–8 3–5 6–8 1993 3–5 6–8 3–5
Median waiting times by months waiting—Out-patients At 31 March Eastern board Northern board Southern board Western board Northern board 1985 0–2 0–2 0–2 0–2 0–2 1986 0–2 0–2 0–5 0–2 0–2 1987 0–2 0–2 0–2 0–2 0–2 1988 0–2 0–2 0–2 0–2 0–2 1989 — — — — — 1990 — — — — — 1991 — — — — — 1992 — — — — — 1993 n/a 0–2 0–2 3–5 n/a Notes:
1. In-patient treatment in the ophthalmology specialty is only available in the Eastern and Western boards.
2. Information relating to waiting times for out-patient treatment was not collected centrally between 1 April 1988 and the introduction of the corporate monitoring system on I April 1992.
3. The information requested on out-patients in the Eastern board area is not available for 1993 and so no figure for Northern Ireland as a whole is available.
Numbers Waiting—In-patients At 31 March Eastern Board Western Board Northern Ireland 1985 1,256 113 1,369 1986 1,188 259 1,447 1987 1,421 249 1,670 1988 1,610 562 2,172 1989 2,572 616 3,188 1990 3,083 768 3,851 1991 3,752 922 4,674 1992 3,639 801 4,440 1993 3,552 973 4,525 Note:
In-patient treatment in the ophthalmology specialty is only available in the Eastern and Western health and social services boards.
94W
Numbers Waiting—Out-patients At 31 March Eastern Board Northern Board Southern Board Western Board Northern Board 1985 1,264 364 All 464 2,519 1986 1,102 387 791 213 2,493 1987 1,899 440 879 345 3,563 1988 991 591 957 525 3,064 1993 1— 899 694 780 1— 1 Not available. Notes: 1. Information detailing the number of people waiting for first out-patient appointment was not collected centrally from 1 April 1988 until the introduction of the corporate monitoring system on I April 1992.
2. Information on the numbers of out-patients waiting for their first appointment in the Eastern board area in 1993 is not presently available and so no figure is available for Northern Ireland as a whole.