HC Deb 25 July 1990 vol 177 c336W
Mr. Burns

To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on the waiting list initiative.

Mrs. Virginia Bottomley

I refer my hon. Friend to the reply that I gave to my hon. Friend the Member for Birmingham, Northfield (Mr. King) on 18 January at columns403–4. The inter-authority comparisons and consultancy (IACC) initiative mentioned in my earlier reply is now complete and has been very effective in reducing waiting times. The number of patients waiting over a year in the 43 specialties studied by the IACC team has virtually been halved, and has reduced by 37 per cent. in the 22 districts as a whole. IACC published its full report on 19 July this year, and copies are available in the Library.