§ Mr. Ernie Ross asked the Secretary of State for Scotland what is the average waiting time for both inpatient and outpatient treatment for (a) orthopaedics and (b) urology in (i) Tayside Health Board, (ii) Dundee and (iii) Scotland.
§ Mr. Allan Stewart:In 1979, the latest year for which information is available, the mean waiting times for patients treated as inpatients in orthopaedic an urology specialties are as set out in the table below. The information requested on waiting time for outpatient treatment is not available centrally.
Tayside Health Board 146 days 116 days Dundee 116 days 116 days Scotland 117 days 88 days Information about waiting times is available only after the discharge from hospital of patients admitted from the waiting list.
Mr. Ernie Ross asked the Secretary of State for Scotland if there are any indentifiable reasons to explain the the differences in waiting time for (a) orthopaedics and (b) urology treatment between Dundee and Scotland as a whole.
§ Mr. Allan Stewart:Variations in waiting times between health board areas arise largely from the demand for a service in a particular area and the priority which a health board gives to that service when allocating the resources available. It is for health boards locally to decide the relative priorities for the allocation of resources.