HC Deb 01 February 1995 vol 253 cc719-20W
Mrs. Clwyd

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment she has made of the correlation between specialties that have the longest waiting lists in the NHS and the level of private sector earnings of the consultant concerned.

Mr. Malone

None.

Mrs. Clwyd

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what correlation she has made between the English regions with the most private sector beds and the length of their waiting lists.

Mr. Malone

We have no evidence of a causal connection between the number of private sector beds in a region and length of waiting lists.

Mrs. Clwyd

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what percentage of private patients see an orthopaedic surgeon in under a month; what is the figure for NHS patients; and what assessment she has made of the reason.

Mr. Malone

Waiting times for private patients are not identifiable from information available centrally. In the quarter ended 30 September 1994 approximately 44 per cent. of patients seen in the trauma and orthopaedics specialty, which includes orthopaedic surgery, were seen within four weeks of written referral by a general practitioner.

Mr. Gordon Prentice

To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will list those NHS trusts where over the past 12 months patients have reportedly been kept waiting on a trolley for longer than two hours.

Mr. Sackville

This information is not available centrally.