HC Deb 17 February 1992 vol 204 c11W
Mr. Flynn

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what is his estimate of the total number of people who have(a) been removed from national health service hospital waiting lists and (b) been placed on pending waiting lists prior to being added to waiting lists, in the last 12 months.

Mrs. Virginia Bottomley

If a hospital doctor decides that someone needs treatment they are either treated immediately or put on a waiting list for non-urgent treatment. In the 12 months to September 1991 nearly 2.8 million patients were admitted to hospitals from waiting lists. The names of a further 334,118 were removed from lists for other reasons, for example, because they had already been treated or no longer needed treatment.