NHS Waiting Times (Hansard, 17 January 1995)

§ 24. Mr. Heald
To ask the Secretary of State for Health what has been the change in the average NHS waiting time since March 1988.

§ Mr. Malone
The average waiting time for hospital treatment has fallen from 9.2 months in March 1988 to 4.6 months in March 1994.

§ 29. Mr. John Marshall
To ask the Secretary of State for Health what proportion of NHS patients are seen(a) within five weeks and (b) within three months; and if she will make a statement.

§ Mr. Malone
In 1992–93, the latest year for which information is available, 56 per cent. of national health service patients admitted to hospital were admitted within five weeks, and 73 per cent. within three months.

§ Mr. Mark Robinson
To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans she has to make further progress in reducing the amount of time patients have to wait for hospital treatment.

§ Mr. Malone
The national health service has already made huge strides in reducing waiting times. In all but a handful of cases no one now waits more than two years for treatment, and the average waiting time has been cut from over nine months in 1987 to less than five months now. We expect to see further progress and from 1 April 1995 the maximum length of wait for in-patient or day case treatment for all patients will be reduced from 24 to 18 months. We will also introduce two new standards—a maximum waiting time of 12 months for patients waiting for coronary artery bypass grafts and some associated procedures and also, for the first time ever, a standard for the maximum wait for a first out-patient appointment.