HC Deb 11 November 1988 vol 140 c328W
Mr. Roy Hughes

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales (1) how many people are waiting for in-patient treatment in Gwent;

(2) how many people are waiting for urgent in-patient treatment in Gwent.

Mr. Grist

The number of people waiting for in-patient treatment in Gwent hospitals at 31 March 1988 was 8,836 of which 963 are waiting for urgent in-patient treatment. Information on waiting lists for individual specialties was published on 27 October in "Welsh Hospital Waiting List Bulletin 1988 No. 2" a copy of which is in the Library.

Mr. Roy Hughes

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what proposals he has to reduce the hospital waiting list in Gwent.

Mr. Grist

Responsibility for the management of waiting lists in Wales rests with district health authorities, within their allocated financial resources. The recurrent revenue provision for Gwent health authority for 1988–89 is some £115 million which represents a growth of 26 per cent. over 1978–79, after taking account of inflation.

As part of the Department's efforts to reduce waiting times, £1 million of additional monies were made available to health authorities in 1988–89 in order to tackle specific problem lists. Gwent health authority was allocated £225,000 of these monies to fund a scheme in trauma and orthopaedics in south Gwent. In addition to the Welsh Office's annual review of all health authorities' performance, including their efforts to tackle waiting lists, officials have recently completed a round of meetings with all health authorities—including Gwent-to discuss their plans for reducing waiting times.

Mr. Roy Hughes

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales (1) how long cases for non-urgent in-patient treatment have to wait in Gwent;

(2) how long cases for urgent in-patient treatment have to wait in Gwent.

Mr. Grist

Median waiting time for patients admitted from waiting lists during the calendar year 1987 was 49 days. It is not possible to distinguish between urgent and non-urgent cases.

Detailed information on waiting lists and median waiting times for individual hospitals was published on 27 October in "Welsh Hospital Waiting List Bulletin 1988 No. 2" a copy of which is in the Library.