§ Mr. LawsTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the waiting times for drug rehabilitation treatment for each drug action team in England were for each year from 1995–96 to 2003–04; and if he will make a statement. [163881]
§ Miss Melanie JohnsonI have been asked to reply.
The National Treatment Agency (NTA) has collected information on waiting times for all drug treatment modalities from 2001 for drug action teams. This is available on the NTA's website at http:// www.nta.nhs.uk/programme/performance information popup. htmf#related.
In December 2001, the NTA developed a programme to tackle growing waiting times, setting targets on the maximum acceptable length of waits. Average waiting times have fallen in all treatment categories from between five to eleven weeks in December 2001, to two to five weeks in October 2003.