§ Mr. Mike Thomasasked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will list in the Official Report for each district health authority, or regional health authority whose district health authority figures are not separately available, the size of waiting lists for treatment at the start and end of the health workers' dispute and for the latest available date, respectively; and in each case what the authority estimates to be the likely rate of reduction over the next six months.
§ Mr. Kenneth ClarkeWaiting list figures are collected for 31 March, 30 September and 31 December of each year. The following table shows the numbers in each region who were on waiting lists for in-patient treatment on 31 March 1982, and, in those regions for which there are complete returns, on 30 September 1982. The latter are the latest figures available at present. District figures are not fully comparable between the two dates because of the restructuring of the Health Service on 1 April 1982.
190W
Region In-patient waiting lists 31 March 1982 30 September 1982 Northern 34,475 49,958 Yorkshire 37,764 53,033 Trent 58,192 73,509 East Anglia 26,092 32,935 North West Thames 39,473 * North East Thames 48,447 * South East Thames 45,177 * South West Thames 33,965 * Wessex 40,966 * Oxford 32,584 * South Western 43,711 47,142 West Midlands 79,074 * Mersey 33,206 37,674 North Western 61,357 69,697
Region In-patient waiting lists 31 March 1982 30 September 1982 London Postgraduate Teaching Hospitals 7,997 7,054 * Returns not yet complete. The total number in England on 30 September 1982 is estimated, from the returns received so far, to be 727,600 compared with 622,480 on 31 March 1982. We have not asked authorities to estimate the likely rate of reduction which will vary considerably between individual hospitals and specialties.