HC Deb 11 July 2001 vol 371 cc509-14W
Dr. Evan Harris

To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on the future publication of inpatient and outpatient waiting lists in England; and what plans he has to publish further indicators of patient waiting times. [3270]

Mr. Hutton

The inpatient waiting list has been reduced by 255,000 since June 1998, and the number of outpatient over-13-week waiters fell by 94,000 over the same period. Information on waiting lists and times will continue to be collected and published.

Mr. Laws

To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what his estimate is of the level of(a) inpatient and (b) outpatient waiting lists and waiting times at (i) East Somerset NHS Trust and (ii) Taunton NHS Trust; what the Government's targets are in each category; and if he will make a statement; [3049]

(2) what targets for (a) inpatient waiting times, (b) outpatient waiting times, (c) inpatient waiting lists and (d) outpatient waiting lists, he has set for (i) East Somerset NHS Trust and (ii) Taunton NHS Trust for each of the next five years; and if he will make a statement; [3050]

Ms Blears

Information on hospital waiting times is published quarterly by the Department in "Hospital Waiting List Statistics: England" and "Waiting Times for First Outpatient Appointments in England: Detailed Statistics". This information is also available on the Department's website at www.doh.gov.uk/waitingtimes.

The numbers of patients waiting for inpatient or day case treatment at East Somerset National Health Service Trust and Taunton and Somerset NHS Trust on 31 March 2001 are shown in the table.

Patients waiting for admission by number of months waiting
East Somerset Taunton and Somerset
0–2 months 1,089 3,400
3–5 months 538 2,039
6–11 months 314 1,371
12–17 months 2 28
18+ months 0 0
Total 1,943 6,838

The number of general practitioner written referral requests seen as a first outpatients in Quarter 4 (1 January to 31 March 2001) at East Somerset NHS Trust and Taunton and Somerset NHS Trust is shown in the table.

Of those GP referral requests seen, the number who waited (in weeks)
East Somerset Taunton and Somerset
0–14 weeks 2,251 4,609
4–113 weeks 2,267 4,299
13–126 weeks 758 2,305
26+ 208 459
Total 5,484 11,672
1 Less than

As part of the NHS Plan, the NHS is working towards reducing the current maximum inpatient wait of 18 months to 15 months by March 2002 and reducing the outpatient wait of over six months now to a maximum of six months by March 2002. These targets are part of a staged reduction in waiting times, with inpatient waiting times continuing to fall from 18, to 15, to 12, nine then ultimately six months by 2005. The maximum outpatient waiting time will fall to three months by 2005.

Mr. Laws

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what his estimate is of the length of the inpatient waiting list at East Somerset NHS Trust for each of the last 10 years; what his estimate is of the number of (i) inpatients and (ii) outpatients waiting for more than(a) three months, (b) six months, (c) nine months, (d) 12 months, (e) 15 months, (f) 18 months and (g) 24 months, for each reporting period over the last 10 years for (A) East Somerset NHS Trust and (B) Taunton NHS Trust; and if he will make a statement. [3048]

Ms Blears

The information requested is shown in the tables. Information on inpatients is not available before June 1991; information on outpatients is only available from June 1995.

Inpatient data for East Somerset NHS Trust (RA4) from June 1991 to March 2001
Number of patients on list who have waited:
Quarter Total Over 3 months Over 6 months Over 9 months Over 12 months Over 15 months Over 18 months Over 24 months
June 1991 1 605 795 406 209 104 n/a n/a 13
September 1991 1.558 724 377 167 82 n/a n/a 7
December 1991 1,604 745 342 177 79 n/a n/a 4
March 1992 1,485 531 196 47 0 n/a n/a 0
June 1992 1,499 610 210 85 17 1 1 0
September 1992 1,601 545 245 71 16 1 0 0
December 1992 1,744 637 228 82 11 1 0 0
March 1993 1,670 611 244 72 0 0 0 0
June 1993 1,869 780 280 98 20 0 0 0
September 1993 1,845 815 342 103 26 1 0 0
December 1993 1,999 704 320 105 12 0 0 0
March 1994 1,725 654 252 76 0 0 0 0
June 1994 1,791 642 231 72 11 2 0 0
September 1994 1,721 685 272 77 7 0 0 0
December 1994 1,610 591 244 51 0 0 0 0
March 1995 1,423 381 138 10 0 0 0 0
June 1995 1,490 457 139 23 0 0 0 0
September 1995 1,673 497 127 15 2 0 0 0
December 1995 1,689 494 123 14 1 0 0 0
March 1996 1,634 421 111 2 0 0 0 0
June 1996 1,691 531 112 9 0 0 0 0
September 1996 2,181 682 169 18 0 0 0 0
December 1996 2,599 983 341 81 0 0 0 0
March 1997 2,662 1,025 435 146 6 0 0 0
June 1997 2,614 1,122 487 212 64 4 0 0
September 1997 2,537 1,077 482 185 65 23 0 0
December 1997 2,874 1,189 543 206 45 7 0 0
March 1998 2,845 1,251 521 172 5 1 0 0
June 1998 2,660 1,120 493 182 19 2 0 0
September 1998 2,335 965 431 171 22 0 0 0
December 1998 2,485 941 436 183 42 3 0 0
March 1999 2,489 850 382 143 0 0 0 0
June 1999 2,132 812 338 156 39 0 0 0
September 1999 2,294 843 334 136 41 5 0 0
December 1999 2,412 878 356 126 31 6 0 0
March 2000 2,061 803 377 150 31 4 0 0
June 2000 2,081 877 397 183 47 9 0 0
September 2000 2,209 900 410 183 55 3 0 0
December 2000 2,062 937 384 164 38 0 0 0
March 2001 1,943 854 316 96 2 0 0 0

Note:

Data not available prior to June 1991.

Source:

KH07 quarterly returns

Inpatient data for Somerset and Taunton NHS Trust (RBA) from June 1991 to March 2001
Number of patients on list who have waited:
Quarter Total Over 3 months Over 6 months Over 9 months Over 12 months Over 15 months Over 18 months Over 24 months
June 1991 6,506 4,126 2,619 1,713 1,094 n/a n/a 289
September 1991 5,844 3,733 2,191 1,269 667 n/a n/a 143
December 1991 5,730 3,103 1,596 792 341 n/a n/a 66
March 1992 5,441 2,648 1,137 352 3 n/a n/a 0
June 1992 5,671 3,102 1,459 525 121 20 15 5
September 1992 5,843 3,156 1,564 505 64 22 3 0
December 1992 6,331 3,113 1,593 599 83 13 8 0
March 1993 6,119 2,932 1,359 431 0 0 0 0
June 1993 5,975 3,094 1,440 462 57 3 2 0
September 1993 5,888 2,931 1,434 481 57 2 1 0
December 1993 5,701 2,897 1,335 469 67 7 4 0
March 1994 5,479 2,528 1,022 243 0 0 0 0
June 1994 5,510 2,491 972 229 0 0 0 0
September 1994 5,222 2,200 798 206 0 0 0 0
December 1994 5,212 1,966 701 157 0 0 0 0
March 1995 4,993 1,884 609 157 0 0 0 0
June 1995 4,995 1,974 480 43 0 0 0 0
September 1995 5,088 1,891 510 22 1 1 0 0
December 1995 5,007 1,748 408 29 0 0 0 0

Inpatient data for Somerset and Taunton NHS Trust (RBA) from June 1991 to March 2001
Number of patients on list who have waited:
Quarter Total Over 3 months Over 6 months Over 9 months Over 12 months Over 15 months Over 18 months Over 24 months
March 1996 4,899 1,507 292 6 0 0 0 0
June 1996 5,152 1,753 329 22 0 0 0 0
September 1996 5,201 1,831 425 8 0 0 0 0
December 1996 5,898 2,324 648 34 0 0 0 0
March 1997 6,282 3,001 1,070 219 0 0 0 0
June 1997 6,759 3,198 1,406 376 18 0 0 0
September 1997 6,710 3,296 1,506 566 52 0 0 0
December 1997 7,513 3,569 1,689 695 113 0 0 0
March 1998 7,523 3,788 1,691 560 22 1 0 0
June 1998 7,596 3,999 1,771 576 32 0 0 0
September 1998 7,385 3,547 1,624 470 44 0 0 0
December 1998 7,606 3,677 1,705 574 114 1 0 0
March 1999 7,440 3,679 1,759 536 137 16 0 0
June 1999 7,451 3,910 1,859 707 137 13 0 0
September 1999 7,630 4,049 1,933 704 180 13 0 0
December 1999 7,690 4,077 2,007 753 211 61 0 0
March 2000 7,027 3.794 1,793 803 271 37 0 0
June 2000 6,920 3,662 1,677 792 297 58 0 0
September 2000 6,753 3,144 1,430 619 197 39 0 0
December 2000 7,094 3,539 1,459 654 203 40 0 0
March 2001 6,838 3,438 1,399 432 28 5 0 0

Note:

Data not available prior to June 1991.

Source:

KH07 quarterly return

Outpatient data for East Somerset NHS Trust (RA4) from June 1995 to March 2001
Number of patients waiting for a first outpatient attendance (following general practitioner referral) at quarter end who have waited:
Quarter Over 13 weeks (three months) Over 26 weeks (six months)
June 1995 941 277
September 1995 980 228
December 1995 1,000 189
March 1996 930 194
June 1996 325 20
September 1996 423 30
December 1996 451 60
March 1997 559 87
June 1997 657 146
September 1997 869 142
December 1997 988 225
March 1998 843 237
June 1998 863 210
September 1998 925 200
December 1998 1,047 196
March 1999 896 247
June 1999 1,180 258
September 1999 1,132 294
December 1999 1,043 306
March 2000 1,020 257
June 2000 1,266 295
September 2000 769 202
December 2000 633 126
March 2001 466 97

Notes:

1. Data are not available on the total number of patients waiting for a first outpatient appointment.

2. Data are not available for the number of patients waiting over nine, 12, 15, 18 or 24 months.

3. Data not collected prior to June 1995.

Source:

QM08 quarterly return

Outpatient data for Somerset and Taunton NHS Trust (RBA) from June 1995 to March 2001
Number of patients waiting for a first outpatient attendance (following GP referral) at quarter end who have waited:
Quarter Over 13 weeks (three months) Over 26 weeks (six months)
June 1995 948 205
September 1995 1,204 271
December 1995 1,138 172
March 1996 929 191
June 1996 1,153 143
September 1996 1,482 142
December 1996 1,471 194
March 1997 1,268 210
June 1997 1,105 173
September 1997 1,628 155
December 1997 1,599 219
March 1998 1,216 199
June 1998 1,536 199
September 1998 2,012 363
December 1998 2,125 527
March 1999 1,978 478
June 1999 2,483 552
September 1999 2,597 577
December 1999 2,561 643
March 2000 2,128 603
June 2000 2,651 483
September 2000 1,543 256
December 2000 1,692 275
March 2001 1,384 225

Notes:

1. Data are not available on the total number of patients waiting for a first outpatient appointment.

2. Data are not available for the number of patients waiting over nine, 12, 15, 18 or 24 months.

3. Data not collected prior to June 1995.

Source:

QM08 quarterly return