§ 82. Mr. HeddleTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Services what steps he proposes to take to reduce the length of time patients must wait for hip replacement operations.
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§ Mr. NewtonThe median waiting time for elective hip replacement fell from 23 weeks in 1978 to 21 weeks in 1985, the latest date for which figures are available. In 1978, 28,090 such operations were carried out. The figure for 1985 was 37,650. The 100,000 additional patients to be treated with the £25 million waiting list fund for 1987–88 will include several thousand extra hip and knee replacements.