§ Mr. Tom Clarkeasked the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will provide details of waiting lists for each specialty for every hospital in Greater Glasgow and Lanarkshire, respectively.
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§ Mr. John MacKayI shall write to the hon. Member with this information as soon as possible and will arrange for a copy of the letter to be placed in the Library.
§ Mr. Dewarasked the Secretary of State for Scotland what was the average waiting time for National Health Service in-patient treatment in each health board in Scotland in each year since 1978.
1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 Argyll and Clyde 83 89 98 93 77 103 95 Ayrshire and Arran 76 85 92 86 95 108 107 Borders 87 87 75 88 59 60 54 Dumfries and Galloway 101 95 126 98 95 147 128 Fife 76 89 85 97 71 138 123 Forth Valley 86 106 95 90 72 92 81 Grampian 61 90 89 90 73 138 111 Greater Glasgow 63 74 65 63 59 105 81 Highland 47 48 46 49 55 58 63 Lanarkshire 68 76 73 67 67 79 57 Lothian 59 80 69 62 60 83 72 Orkney 17 21 25 19 24 19 22 Shetland 87 89 94 115 66 59 46 Tayside 65 70 70 77 71 97 94 Western Isles 34 45 49 46 48 57 43 Scotland 67 79 75 73 67 98 85 The figures for 1985 are not yet available.
The general increases in 1979 and 1983 show the effects of industrial action in the preceding years. Mean waiting times follow the same pattern as numbers on waiting lists, though usually at a year's interval. Waiting lists began to increase in 1982, as a result of industrial action, but the waiting times did not show the effect until 1983. Since then both size of waiting lists and waiting times have reduced overall and I expect this reduction to continue.