§ Lord BYERSasked Her Majesty's Government:
How many patients, at the most recent convenient date, were awaiting admission to the National Spinal Injuries Centre at Stoke Mandeville, and of these, how many have been waiting for more than two months, four months and longer.
§ Lord WELLS-PESTELLThere were 31 patients on the waiting list on 14th December. Of these, seven were classified as "acute", and none of them has been waiting more than two months. Of the 24 patients on the "ordinary" waiting list, six have been waiting less than two months; two have been waiting more than two months; and 16 more than four months (nine of them over a year).
The Buckinghamshire Area Health Authority are having difficulty recruiting nursing staff at Stoke Mandeville Hospital, and this is affecting admissions from the waiting list to the National Spinal Injuries Centre.