§ Mr. CousinsTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what were the costs of the consultancy management team study of waiting lists in Newcastle, Durham and East Cumbria referred to in the reply given to the hon. Member for Stockton, South (Mr. Devlin),Official Report, 20 March, column 555; where such costs are accounted for in national health service budgets; what conclusions this study reached; what actions have been taken as a result; and if he will place a copy of the consultancy team's report in the Library.
§ Mrs. Virginia BottomleyWaiting lists in these three districts are among 100 specialty lists being investigated by Inter-Authority Comparisons and Consultancy (IACC) in 1990–91. The costs are not separately identified by district, but amount to £420,000 for the national programme of studies and are met centrally from the waiting list fund.
The aim of the studies is to investigate why waiting times for treatment are so long, and to draw up contracts with the districts for agreed workload levels and reductions in waiting time in return for additional funding. A total of £12 million from the waiting list fund has been earmarked to fund the recommendations of the studies. So far £45,000 has been allocated to Durham to reduce the number of patients waiting over a year on the general surgery/urology list, and £121,000 to East Cumbria to reduce the wait for general surgery. Newcastle's plastic surgery list is still under consideration.
A copy of IACC's summary report "Examining some of England's longest waiting lists" is in the Library. This describes IACC's work in 1989–90, which by March 1990 had resulted in a reduction from 29,580 to 15,042 in the number of patients waiting over a year in 43 key specialties. A full-year report is in preparation.