§ Mr. Peter Robinsonasked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many patients are on the waiting lists for admissions to hospitals in each area board, and how many in each area have been waiting for more than one year.
§ Mr. AlisonThe latest date for which information is available is 30 September when the following numbers of patients were on waiting lists:
Eastern Board 16,382 Northern Board 2,367 Southern Board 2,570 Western Board 2,466 Total 23,785 Information is not routinely available on the length of time patients have been on waiting lists. However, my Department carried out a special survey in 1978, which showed that at 31 July of that year the following numbers of patients had been on waiting lists for more than one year:
Eastern Board 4,613 Northern Board 787 Western Board 375 Southern Board 890 Total 6,665