§ Mrs. Dunwoodyasked the Secretary of State for Social Services whether he will institute a sample survey on the lines of that carried out in 1978, to discover the mean waiting time for patients admitted from waiting lists of all specialties.
§ Mr. Geoffrey FinsbergI assume that the sample survey to which the hon. Member refers is the hospital in-patient inquiry. This is an annual survey undertaken by this Department, that of my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Wales and the Office of Population Censuses and Surveys, and based on a 10 per cent. sample of in-patient records from non-psychiatric hospitals in England and Wales. Data for 1979 shows that the mean waiting time for non-maternity patients admitted from waiting lists was 17.4 weeks for all causes. This will be included in the forthcoming hospital in-patient inquiry summary tables for 1979 to be published by Her Majesty's Stationery Office.
§ Mrs. Dunwoodyasked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will list the waiting lists at Leighton hospital, Cranage Hall, Barony hospital and Oakmore rehabilitation centre, for the September of each of the previous five years for which figures are available, distinguishing between urgent and non-urgent cases.
§ Mr. Geoffrey FinsbergThe in-patient waiting lists at 30 September for the years 1977–81 is as follows:
80W
1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 Leighton hospital Urgent 350 571 518 220 389 Non-urgent 3,152 3,350 3,412 3,582 4,043 Cranage Hall Urgent 2 1 5 — 2 Non-urgent 57 58 56 30 28 Barony hospital — — — — —
1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 Oakmore rehabilitation centre — — — — — The waiting list for Leighton hospital comprises all the major specialties; the Cranage Hall waiting list comprises mental handicap and dental surgery only.