§ Mr. Ashleyasked the Secretary of State for Social Services (1) if he will publish a list of district health authorities in rank order according to the number of patients waiting for urgent treatment;
(2) if he will categorise district health authorities according to whether the number of urgent cases waiting for treatment is (a) zero, (b) one to nine, (c) 10 to 99, (d) 100 to 999, (e) 1,000 to 1,999 and (f) 2,000 or over; and if he will explain the reasons for the variations in the numbers on the waiting lists.
§ Mr. NewtonThe information requested is given in the table. There are many possible reasons for the variations between districts in the numbers of urgent cases on the 209W waiting list including the size and age structure of the population and differing local clinical judgments on what constitutes an urgent case.
210W
District health authorities listed in order of the number of urgent cases on the in-patient waiting list at 31 March 1986 District health authority Number of urgent cases Rank order Category Bexley 0 1 Chorley and South Ribble 0 1 East Yorkshire 0 1 Greenwich 0 1 Huddersfield 0 1 Hull 0 1 North Tees 0 1 North West Hertfordshire 0 1 Northallerton 0 1 Rugby 0 1 Sandwell 0 1 Scunthorpe 0 1 Solihull 0 1 South Bedfordshire 0 1 South Tyneside 0 1 South West Durham 0 1 Southport and Formby 0 1 Warrington 0 1 no urgent cases Calderdale 1 19 North Devon 1 19 North Hertfordshire 1 19 East Cumbria 2 22 North Bedfordshire 2 22 Dewsbury 4 24 Halton 4 24 North West Durham 4 24 Darlington 5 27 Bury 6 28 Cheltenham 6 28 Bromley 7 30 Wycombe 7 30 Blackburn, Hyndburn and Ribble Valley 8 32 East Hertfordshire 8 32 Grimsby 8 32 Harrow 8 32 St. Helens and Knowsley 8 32 Walsall 9 37 1–9 York 9 37 Kidderminster and District 13 39 South Cumbria 14 40 South East Staffordshire 14 40 Huntingdon 15 42 South East Kent 19 43 Kettering 21 44 North Tyneside 21 44 Durham 22 46 Dartford and Gravesham 23 47 Mid Essex 23 47 Bassetlaw 24 49 Trafford 25 50 Isle of Wight 27 51 Brent 28 52 West Lancashire 28 52 West Cumbria 33 54 Worcester and District 33 54 North Warwickshire 39 56 Bolton 40 57 Peterborough 40 57 Bromsgrove and Redditch 41 59 Enfield 41 59 Milton Keynes 41 59 Gateshead 42 62
211W
District health authority Number of urgent cases Rank order Category Eastbourne 43 63 Scarborough 43 63 Hampstead 49 65 Harrogate 50 66 Southmead 50 66 Chester 55 68 Swindon 56 69 North Birmingham 61 70 Wakefield 61 70 West Essex 61 70 West Suffolk 61 70 Newham 62 74 Mid Staffordshire 65 75 South Lincolnshire 66 76 Hartlepool 69 77 Preston 72 78 West Birmingham 72 78 Aylesbury Vale 74 80 Wigan 74 80 Central Nottinghamshire 76 82 North West Surrey 78 83 West Berkshire 83 84 Oxfordshire 87 85 Frenchay 88 86 Torbay 89 87 Barnsley 90 88 Redbridge 95 89 Herefordshire 98 90 Mid Downs 98 90 10–99 Maidstone 99 92 Airedale 101 93 South Warwickshire 101 93 South West Surrey 103 95 Tameside and Glossop 106 96 Hastings 109 97 Winchester 109 97 North Lincolnshire 112 99 Rotherham 114 100 South Sefton 114 100 Lancaster 118 102 West Norfolk and Wisbech 120 103 Rochdale 122 104 Exeter 131 105 Mid Surrey 131 105 Basingstoke and North Hampshire 134 107 Wolverhampton 134 107 Camberwell 135 109 East Suffolk 137 110 East Surrey 146 111 Paddington and North Kensington 150 112 Chichester 151 113 Macclesfield 158 114 Haringey 160 115 Nottingham 160 115 South West Hertfordshire 160 115 Dudley 161 118 Sunderland 167 119 Croydon 180 120 South Tees 180 120 North Manchester 187 122 Southern Derbyshire 189 123 Waltham Forest 190 124 Wirral 195 125 Medway 200 126 Northumberland 202 127 Plymouth 206 128 North Derbyshire 211 129 Richmond, Twickenham and Roehampton 216 130 East Birmingham 234 131 Brighton 241 132
212W
District health authority Number of urgent cases Rank order Category Barking, Havering and Brentwood 246 133 West Dorset 250 134 Kingston and Esher 253 135 Salford 261 136 Bradford 269 137 Burnley, Pendle and Rossendale 284 138 Cornwall and Isles of Scilly 286 139 Salisbury 300 140 Islington 318 141 Oldham 323 142 Gloucester 331 143 Portsmouth and South East Hampshire 333 144 Central Manchester 350 145 Shropshire 356 146 Great Yarmouth and Waveney 358 147 Canterbury and Thanet 364 148 Ealing 364 148 Worthing 377 150 Tunbridge Wells 395 151 Stockport 404 152 Merton and Sutton 406 153 Doncaster 407 154 Bath 446 155 Wandsworth 447 156 North East Essex 461 157 Bristol and Weston 473 158 Crewe 484 159 Barnet 499 160 Hounslow and Spelthorne 503 161 Pontefract 508 162 Somerset 524 163 East Berkshire 542 164 Liverpool 575 165 Bloomsbury 584 166 Southend 584 166 Leeds Western 587 168 Leeds Eastern 604 169 Cambridge 619 170 Coventry 664 171 West Lambeth 669 172 Northampton 703 173 South Manchester 753 174 Riverside 771 175 Hillingdon 773 176 South Birmingham 788 177 Central Birmingham 807 178 Blackpool, Wyre and Fylde 843 179 Basildon and Thurrock 883 180 Leicestershire 891 181 North Staffordshire 943 182 East Dorset 964 183 100–999 Lewisham and North Southwark 1,072 184 Newcastle 1,154 185 Sheffield 1,175 186 Southampton and South West Hampshire 1,214 187 Norwich 1,279 188 West Surrey and North East Hants 1,429 189 Tower Hamlets 1,657 190 1,000–1,999 City and Hackney 2,192 191 2,000 and over
§ Mr. Ashleyasked the Secretary of State for Social Services if his Department issues guidance on the criteria for deciding whether patients waiting for hospital treatment are to be treated as urgent or non-urgent cases.
§ Mr. NewtonNo. Whether a patient waiting for hospital treatment is to be treated as an urgent or non-urgent case is a matter for clinical judgment.