§ Mrs. Virginia BottomleyTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what percentage of patients have been waiting over one year for inpatient treatment in(a) West Surrey and (b) Durham in (i) 1997 and (ii) at the latest date for which figures are available. [142992]
§ Mr. DenhamThe information requested is given in the table.
Percentage Proportion of patients waiting over a year for inpatient treatment as on: 31 March 1997 31 October 2000 West Surrey Heath Authority 5.5 11.7 County Durham and Darlington Health Authority 0.0 1.5 Source:
QF01 quarterly waiting times return/monthly waiting times return
We are committed to reducing waiting times for outpatient appointments and inpatient treatment. We addressed this in the National Health Service Plan announced in July where we pledged that, by the end of 2005, the maximum inpatient waiting time will be cut from 18 months now to six months and the maximum outpatient waiting time will be cut from over six months now to three months. Provided we can recruit the extra staff, and the NHS makes the necessary reforms, our eventual objective is to reduce the maximum wait for any stage of treatment to three months by the end of 2008.