§ 49. Mr. Neil Hamiltonasked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will make a statement on the waiting lists in the Mersey region.
§ Mr. NewtonOn 31 March 1987 there were 29,147 people on the in-patient waiting list in Mersey regional health authority. This represents a fall of 1,632 (5.3 per cent.) since March 1986. The number of people waiting over a year for treatment has fallen by 18 per cent. to 6,257.
Mersey RHA has been allocated £1.35 million from the waiting list fund for 1987–88 for projects to enable the region to treat some 7,700 extra patients from the inpatient lists. This is in addition to the measures being taken to reduce waiting lists and times within existing resources.