§ Mr. Allan Robertsasked the Secretary of State for Social Services (1) how many people in the constituency of Bootle have been on hospital waiting lists for major operations for over one year since May 1979;
(2) if he will publish in the Official Report a table indicating the number of people on hospital waiting lists in the constituency of Bootle for major operations, categorising each operation with its respective waiting list, in May 1979, June 1983 and February 1985, respectively.
§ Mr. John PattenWaiting list information is available centrally by the specialty of treatment and not by operation. The available information for the South Sefton district health authority, which covers the Bootle constituency area, is given in the tables. 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 readily be estimated, but is thought to exceed 10 per cent. nationally and could be considerably more. About half of all admissions to hospital are immediate, and many of those on waiting lists already have a planned date of admission.
§ Mr. Allan Robertsasked the Secretary of State for Social Services when he expects to achieve the reduction of hospital waiting lists by 20 per cent.
§ Mr. John PattenBefore the health service industrial action in 1982, hospital inpatient waiting lists had fallen by 17 per cent. from 752,400 in March 1979 to 622,500 in March 1982. The latest available figure, for September 1984, is 682,000 (provisional), some 9 per cent. lower than the December 1982 figure of 746,100 and we expect this downward trend to continue. 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 readily be estimated, but is thought to exceed 10 per cent. 167W nationally and could be considerably more. About half of all admissions to hospital are immediate, and many of those on waiting lists already have a planned date of admission.