HL Deb 08 July 2004 vol 663 cc104-5WA

Lord Taylor of Warwick asked Her Majesty's Government:

What assessment they have made of regional differences in the maximum wait from general practitioner referral to National Health Service hospital treatment. [HL3422]

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Health (Lord Warner): Information on the maximum wait from general practitioner referral to National Health Service hospital treatment is not collected centrally. The following table shows the number of outpatient appointments commissioned in each strategic health authority area where patients were waiting longer than 17 weeks (the current maximum waiting time standard) at the end of March 2004. The figures cover first outpatient appointment following a GP or a general dental practitioner referral to a consultant.

Strategic Health Authority Number of patients waiting over 17 weeks for a first outpatient appointment (end of March 2004) Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire 0 Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire 1 Essex 0 North West London 0 North Central London 0 North East London 0 South East London 3 South West London 0 Northumberland, Tyne and Wear 0 County Durham and Tees Valley 0 North and East Yorkshire and Northern Lincolnshire 1 West Yorkshire 12 Cumbria and Lancashire 0 Greater Manchester 0 Cheshire and Merseyside 128 Thames Valley 0 Hampshire and Isle of Wight 0 Kent and Medway 0 Surrey and Sussex 0 Avon, Gloucestershire and Wiltshire 12 South West Peninsula 2 Somerset and Dorset 0 South Yorkshire 0 Trent 0 Leicestershire, Northamptonshire & Rutland 0 Shropshire and Staffordshire 148 Birmingham and the Black Country 0 West Midlands South 0

Source:

Department of Health QM08R

1 These patients are waiting to be seen at Welsh trusts and have been offered alternatives to be seen at an English trust.