§ Mr. Knoxasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what has been the average number of patients on hospital waiting lists in each year since 1973.
§ Sir George YoungWaiting list statistics are based on censuses conducted at fixed points in time. An average figure is not available. The following table gives the number of patients on waiting lists for in-patient treatment in England at 31 December in each year between 1973 and 1977:
1973 … … … 508,617 1974 … … … 517,424 1975 … … … 588,483 1976 … … … 607,141 1977 … … … 602,091 The December 1978 figure is not yet available. The latest date for which a firm figure is available is 30 September 1978 when there were 628,360 patients on waiting lists.