HC Deb 14 February 1991 vol 185 cc554-5W
Mr. Ted Garrett

To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many operations have been cancelled in national health service hospitals during the current financial year.

Mr. Dorrell

In the year ending 31 March 1990 provisional figures show that an estimated 315,000 operations did not take place at the originally appointed time. During that year the national health service completed 8.6 million in-patient and day-patient treatments—an increase of 3 per cent. over the previous year and 30 per cent. over 1979.