HC Deb 17 March 1983 vol 39 c241W
Mr. Kilroy-Silk

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services how many people are currently on waiting lists for admission to National Health Service hospitals; and how many of them are considered to be urgent.

Mr. Geoffrey Finsberg

On 31 March 1982, the latest date for which complete information is held centrally, the number of patients awaiting admission to National Health Service hospitals was 622,000 of whom 41,000 were reported as urgent. A provisional estimate of the number waiting on 30 September 1982 is 728,000, but it is not possible at this stage to estimate how many of these would be classified as urgent.