§ Mr. Gordon Wilsonasked the Secretary of State for Scotland what the average waiting period was for orthopaedic operations in each health board area in each of the last five years.
§ Mr. FairgrieveInformation as to how long a patient has waited for his operation only becomes available when he is ready for discharge from hospital. The following table shows average waiting times in days in respect of patients discharged from hospitals during the years 1975 to 1977.
Figures for l 978 and 1979 are not yet available.
AVERAGE WAITING TIME (IN DAYS) FOR PATIENTS DISCHARGED FOLLOWING ORTHOPAEDIC OPERATIONS Health Board 1975 1976 1977 Argyll and Clyde 145 147 178 Ayrshire and Arran 49 52 49 Borders 132 93 93 Dumfries and Galloway 131 100 90 Fife 176 167 158 Forth Valley 169 263 302 Grampian 108 87 83 Greater Glasgow 95 102 91 Highland 124 102 83 Lanarkshire 107 100 89 Lothian 115 124 112 Orkney 8 29 — Shetland 67 72 30 Tayside 113 112 135 Western Isles 32 34 74