HC Deb 10 April 2001 vol 366 c594W
29. Sir Teddy Taylor

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what progress has been made in reducing waiting lists in Southend Hospital. [156313]

Mr. Denham

Significant progress has been made in reducing the waiting lists at Southend Hospital NHS Trust and it is working with primary care organisations to examine options for modifying referral patterns to help with this. The latest figures show that total number of patients waiting are about 4 per cent. below the end-March 1997 level.

Southend Hospital NHS Trust has made good progress with patients waiting over 12 months for treatment particularly in ophthalmology which contributed to over half of the waiting list last year.