§ Mr. Ellis Smithasked the Minister of Health if he will state in tabular form the numbers on waiting lists at hospitals throughout the country, in the city of Stoke-on-Trent, Salford, Manchester, and Birmingham and in the three towns or cities having a population of approximately 270,000 which have the lowest waiting lists, for the years 1938, 1948 and 1958.
§ Mr. Walker-SmithI regret that information for 1938 and 1948 is not available. At the end of 1949, 498,000 persons were awaiting admission to National Health Service hospitals in England and Wales: the corresponding figure at the end of 1958 was 443,000. Information for hospital management committees and boards of governors whose hospitals serve the towns or cities set out below (including the two with populations of about 270,000) is as follows:
Town or City Waiting List at 31st December, 1949 1958 Manchester … 15,758 16,857 Stoke-on-Trent … 6,254 5,474 Salford … 4,228 1,685 Birmingham … 16,321 12,759 Leicester … 6,066 7,580 Newcastle-on-Tyne … 8,867 8,174