HC Deb 20 July 1978 vol 954 cc400-2W
Mr. Michael McGuire

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will list in the Official Report the average waiting time that people living in the Wigan metropolitan borough area have to wait before they can receive treatment in the various specialities which are available in the hospitals which service the area, giving, in each case, the time for out-patients and in-patients, and how these figures compares with regional and national averages.

Mr. Moyle,

pursuant to his reply [Official Report, 18th July 1978], gave the following information:

Averages are misleading as waiting times for admission vary according to the circumstances of the individual case and patients requiring emergency treatment are admitted without delay. On 30th September 1977, the numbers of patients awaiting admission to hospitals in the Wigan area health authority, in the north western region and in England were as follows:

WAITING LISTS FOR NON-URGENT IN-PATIENT TREATMENT
Wigan Area Health Authority North Western Region England
Specialty Total Rate per 1,000 population Number waiting more than 1 year Rate per 1,000 population Total Rate per 1,000 population Number waiting more than 1 year Rate per 1,000 population Total Rate per 1,000 population Number waiting more than 1 year Rate per 1,000 population
Geriatrics … … … 18 0.06 — — 428 0.10 18 0.004 3,413 0.07 299 0.01
General Surgery … … 951 3.07 87 0.28 15,208 3.72 4,842 1.18 152,724 3.29 44,900 0.97
Ear, Nose and Throat … 990 3.20 144 0.46 12,405 3.03 3,548 0.87 94,814 2.04 23,866 0.51
Traumatic and Orthopaedic 300 1.00 17 0.05 9,785 2.39 3,622 0.88 91,301 1.97 26,751 0.58
Ophthalmology … … 406 1.31 15 0.05 4,352 1.06 655 0.16 34,471 0.74 5,539 0.12
Urology … … … 63 0.20 — — 2,095 0.50 634 0.15 17,992 0.39 4,874 0.10
Plastic Surgery … … 76 0.24 — — 2,930 0.72 1,561 0.38 36,467 0.79 19,702 0.42
Dental Surgery … … 16 0.05 — — 1,695 0.41 437 0.11 23,628 0.51 4,655 0.10
Gynaecology … … 599 1.93 201 0.65 9,382 2.30 2,120 0.52 71,402 1.54 10,218 0.22
Total … … … 3,419 11.03 464 1.50 58,280 14.25 17,437 4.26 526,212 11.34 140,804 3.03

WAITING LISTS FOR URGENT IN-PATIENT TREATMENT
Wigan Area Health Authority North Western Region England
Specialty Total Rate per 1,000 population Number waiting more than 1 month Rate per 1,000 population Total Rate per 1,000 population Number waiting more than 1 month Rate per 1,000 population Total Rate per 1,000 population Number waiting more than 1 month Rate per 1,000 population
General Surgery … … 23 0.07 9 0.03 545 0.13 220 0.05 8,969 0.19 5,388 0.15
Ear, Nose and Throat … 38 0.12 23 0.07 236 0.06 143 0.03 3,378 0.07 2,172 0.05
Traumatic and Orthopaedic 48 0.15 29 0.10 472 0.11 334 0.08 8,804 0.19 6,835 0.15
Ophthalmology … … 10 0.03 3 0.01 378 0.10 336 0.08 2,154 0.05 1,542 0.03
Urology … … … 5 0.02 — — 495 0.12 363 0.09 3,199 0.07 2,299 0.05
Gynaecology … … 37 0.12 10 0.03 353 0.08 126 0.03 3,965 0.08 2,044 0.04
Total … … … 161 0.52 74 0.24 2,479 0.60 1,522 0.37 30,469 0.65 20,280 0.45

There are no waiting lists for general medicine or paediatrics within the Wigan area health authority Information about waiting times for out-patient appointments is not collected centrally.