§ Lord Roberts of Conwyasked Her Majesty's Government:
What progress has been made in Wales since May 1997 in reducing hospital waiting lists and waiting times. [HL524]
§ Lord Williams of MostynThe number of Welsh residents reported by Welsh health authorities to be132WA waiting for treatment as an in-patient or day case stood at 76,000 on 31 August 1998, 11 per cent above the level at 30 April 1997 of 68,500. (I regret that in my Answer to the noble Lord on 7 May 1998, Col. 89, I quoted that the numbers of residents waiting for in-patient or day case treatment for the reference point of 30 April 1997 was 65,900. Since that Answer was provided, a validation exercise has revealed an error in the figures for one of the health authorities which has since been corrected, increasing the figure to 68,500. I apologise for this error.)
Since then, the number has decreased to 71,300 at 30 November 1998 (4 per cent. above the level at 30 April 1997). The number of Welsh residents who had been waiting over 12 and 18 months for treatment peaked at 30 September 1998 but by 30 November 1998 had fallen slightly to stand at 9,000 (48 per cent. above the level at 30 April 1997) and 2,900 (109 per cent. above the level at 30 April 1997) respectively.
The number of Welsh residents reported by Welsh health authorities to be waiting for a first out-patient appointment stood at 133,200 on 30 November 1998, 33 per cent. above the level on 30 April 1997 of 100,100. The number of Welsh residents who had been waiting over six months for a first appointment stood at 18,500 on 30 November 1998, 185 per cent. above the level at 30 April 1997.