§ 33. Mr. Heddleasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what is the number of patients who have been awaiting hip replacement operations for more than six months.
§ Mr. NewtonI regret that I cannot provide my hon. Friend with information in precisely the form he seeks. Information is not collected centrally on the intended method of treatment of cases on in-patients waiting lists. However, for patients discharged in 1984, the latest year for which figures are available centrally, the interval between the date the patient was placed on the waiting list and the date of admission was approximately six months 195W or more in an estimated 8,840 cases admitted from the waiting list for total hip replacements and other arthroplasty of hip operations in National Health Service hospitals in England. This represents 23 per cent. of the estimated total of 37,970 cases undergoing hip operations.