§ Mr. David Mitchellasked the Secretary of State for Social Services how long non-emergency patients have to wait for radio
1 February1974 1 February1975 1 February1976 1 February1977 1February1978 General surgery … … … 430 438 485 544 442 Gynaecology … … … 434 360 275 118 107 Oral surgery … … … Not known Not known Not known Not known 35 Ear, nose and throat … … … 107 597 765 820 710 Orthopaedics … … … 8 43 38 122 121 Ophthalmic … … … Not known 44 88 119 88 There has been no waiting list during the period for general medicine.
The longest waiting period for non-urgent surgery is for varicose veins and may be up to six years depending upon the degree of urgency. I regret that this category of patient was not included in the answer I gave to the hon. Gentleman on 1 February when I quoted up to 18 months as the waiting time for non-urgent general surgery.—[Vol. 961, c. 530.]