§ Mr. Knoxasked the Secretary of State for Social Services how many people were waiting to be admitted to hospitals in Staffordshire at the last count, and at the same date over the past five years.
§ Mr. John PattenThe requested information is given in the table.
In general, figures on waiting lists are believed to include a significant proportion of duplicated entries and patients who no longer require treatment. The amount of overstatement cannot be readily estimated but is thought to exceed 10 per cent. nationally and could be considerably more.
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Number of persons on in-patient waiting lists in NHS hospitals on 31 March District health authority 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 *1984 Mid Staffordshire 2,700 2,796 2,419 2,471 2,438 1,764 North Staffordshire 11,046 10,656 9,768 8,752 9,649 9,293 South East Staffordshire 1,693 1,941 2,402 2,278 2,346 2,476 * Provisional.