§ Mr. BurstowTo ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list the last average in-patient wailing time for(a) England, (b) each region and (c) strategic health authority for each year since 1996. [159737]
§ Mr. HuttonThe table shows average (median) waiting times for elective inpatient admissions.
Average (median) waiting times for elective in-patient admission: England and strategic health authorities: position at 31 December
2003
England/SHA Median waiting times
(months)
England 2.59 Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire HA 2.67 Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire HA 2.75 Essex HA 2.64 North West London HA 2.46 North Central London HA 2.70 North East London HA 2.73 South East London HA 2.55 South West London HA 2.55 Northumberland, Tyne and Wear 2.46 County Durham and Tees Valley 2.65 North and East Yorkshire and Northern Lincolnshire HA 2.58 West Yorkshire HA 2.52 Cumbria and Lancashire HA 2.52 Greater Manchester HA 2.42 Cheshire and Merseyside HA 2.39 Thames Valley HA 2.40 Hampshire and Isle of Wight HA 2.81 Kent and Medway HA 3.39 Surrey and Sussex HA 2.74 Avon, Gloucestershire and Wiltshire HA 2.90 South West Peninsula HA 3.08 Somerset and Dorset HA 2.33 South Yorkshire HA 2.42 Trent HA 2.40 Leicestershire, Northampton ihire and Rutland HA 2.56 Shropshire and Staffordshire HA 2.68 Birmingham and The Black Country HA 2.09 Coventry, Warwickshire, Herefordshire and Worcestershire HA 2.61 Note: The figures shown are estimates based on aggregate data, categorised into waiting time bands, and do not reflect shifts in the waiting time profiles within these bands, only between bands. The median is not very sensitive to reductions in maximum waiting times, and it is possible to see a rise in the median, whilst reducing maximum waiting times because of shifts in low time bands. Short-term progress on delivering maximum waiting times (including tackling the longest waiters) will not necessarily translate into a reduction in the median waiting time. Our policy, therefore, is to focus attention on the number of patients waiting the longest, and in each waiting time band Source: Department of Health form QF01. For information on average waiting times for previous years I refer the hon. Member to the response I gave on 4 February 2004, Official Report, column 977W.