§ Mr. Gouldasked the Secretary of State for Social Services (1) how many operations in National Health Service hospitals in Southampton have been performed on (a) National Health Service patients and (b) private patients, in the last year for which figures are available; (c) hernias and (d) gall bladder complaints;
(2) what is the average delay for private patients who seek operations for (a) hernias and (b) gall bladder complaints in Southampton National Health Service hospitals.
§ Mr. MoylePrecise figures for operations performed are not available. However, the Southampton and South-West Hampshire Health District estimates that an average of 17 hernia and nine gall bladder operations are performed in Southampton hospitals on NHS patients each week. Over the last 18 months no private patients have had hernia operations and only one a gall bladder operation. There is no record of the waiting time for operations for private patients with these complaints.
§ Mr. Gouldasked the Secretary of State for Social Services how many patients 137W are currently on the waiting list for operations in Southampton for (a) hernias and (b) gall bladder complaints; and what is the average delay in each case.
§ Mr. Moyle294 NHS patients are awaiting operation for hernia, and 100 for gall bladder complaints.
Meaningful figures for average waiting times cannot be given since the length of time a patient may have to wait depends upon the priority attached to the case; urgent cases are of course treated without delay. In Southampton hospitals at present non-urgent hernia cases usually wait between six and 18 months, but one patient has been waiting 22 months; gall
Total expenditure on FIS
£m.
Expenditure per head of population
per annum*
Great Britain … … … 12.0 22p Scotland … … … 1.7 33p Wales … … … 0.6 22p England … … … 9.6 21p English Regions: … … … Northern … … … 0.7 22p Yorkshire and Humberside … … … 1.3 27p East Midlands and East Anglia … … … 1.2 22p South East … … … 2.3 14p SouthWest … … … 1.1 26p West Midland … … … 1.1 21p NorthWest … … … 1.9 29p * Based on Mid 1974 population estimates.