§ 30. Mr. Neubertasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what is the average waiting period for a National Health Service patient requiring general surgery.
§ 31. Mrs. Knightasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what is the average waiting time between a general practitioner referring a patient for a hospital appointment with a consultant in ophthalmics, orthopaedics, ear, nose and throat or skin diseases and that patient's actual appointment.
§ 40. Mr. Brookeasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what is the average waiting period for a National Health Service patient requiring general surgery.
§ 43. Mr. Richard Pageasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what is the average waiting period for a National Health Service patient requiring orthopaedic treatment.
§ 50. Mr. MacKayasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what is the average waiting period for a National Health Service patient requiring orthopaedic treatment.
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§ Mr. EnnalsI regret that the information is not available. Obtaining such statistics would involve considerable extra manpower. Within each specialty, patients with very different conditions and of differing degrees of urgency would he averaged together. The results would not be sufficiently meaningful to justify the cost.
I am much concerned with this problem and my Department and the health authorities are energetically seeking to bring about an improvement.
§ 66. Mrs. Castleasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what action he proposes to take on the recommendations of the Health Services Board for the establishment of common waiting lists in National Health Service hospitals.
§ Mr. EnnalsThere have been extensive consultations on the Health Services Board's recommendations with interested bodies, including the medical profession, health authorities, community health councils and other professional groups. I shall soon make proposals for action based on these consultations.