§ Mr. McQuarrieasked the Secretary of State for Scotland how many general hospitals in the Scottish health board areas provide a specialist doctor for the treatment of arthritic conditions.
§ Mr. John MacKayThere are seven consultants in rheumatology in Scotland, as shown in the following table. In addition, treatment of patients suffering from arthritis may also be undertaken by consultants in general medicine, rehabilitation medicine and orthopaedic surgery. The following details therefore represent only a small part of the specialist services available in Scotland for the treatment of arthritis.
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Health board Number of consultants* Hospitals covered Grampian 2 Aberdeen city hospital Aberdeen royal infirmary Greater Glasgow 2 Glasgow royal infirmary Glasgow western infirmary Gartnavel general hospital Lothian 3 Northern general hospital Edinburgh royal infirmary Princess Margaret Rose hospital * At 30 September 1982.
§ Mr. McQuarrieasked the Secretary of State for Scotland if he is satisfied with the provision of arthritic services in the Grampian health board area; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. John MacKayIn the Grampian health board area. medical treatment for arthritic conditions is available at a rheumatology unit in the City hospital, Aberdeen. Surgical treatment, where required, is provided in other hospital departments. The Grampian health board keeps under review the adequacy of all its services and makes such improvements as are possible within available resources.
§ Mr. McQuarrieasked the Secretary of State for Scotland how many persons are at present awaiting hospital treatment for arthritis in each of the Scottish health board areas; and what has been the average period of waiting for the treatment by a patient once seen by the specialist.
§ Mr. John MacKayInformation about patients awaiting hospital treatment is not collected in the form requested. For patients discharged from hospital after treatment of arthritis and osteoarthrosis the mean waiting time for 1981 was as follows:
Mean wait* in days during 1981 Health Board Rheumatoid Arthritis Osteoarthrosis Argyll and Clyde 61 207 Ayrshire and Arran 68 81 Borders 85 131 Dumfries and Galloway 39 77 Fife 245 294 Forth Valley 158 306 Grampian 29 100 Greater Glasgow 73 145 Highland 90 117 Lanark 93 169 Lothian 231 205 Orkney — — Shetland 69 25 Tayside 187 273 Western Isles 32 27 Scotland 126 194 * The time which patients admitted from the waiting list and discharged from hospital in that year awaited admission.
§ Mr. McQuarrieasked the Secretary of State for Scotland what is the average time taken from the date of referral by a general practitioner to a specialist for a person suffering from an arthritic condition until the person is seen by the specialist in the Grampian health board area.
§ Mr. John MacKayI understand that in the Grampian health board area a patient whose condition is not urgent430W could expect to be seen as an outpatient by a rheumatologist about six weeks after referral by his general practitioner.