§ Mr Barry JonesTo ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many heart operations were carried out in each of the last four years in Wales.
§ Mr Nicholas BennettThe most comprehensive information available centrally is that derived from hospital activity analysis individual patient records. The figures given in the following table are likely to understate the true position in that not all hospitals provide complete clinical details relating to patient discharges and deaths.
The figures include surgical operations and other procedures on the heart carried out in NHS hospitals in Wales. In particular, contrast radiology is included, where the figures for 1988, 1989 and 1990 are 136, 457 and 1,418 respectively.
The figures for the years 1988 to 1990 are based on OPCS 4th revision codes for surgical operations and procedures and are not strictly comparable to the 1987 figure which is based on the OPCS 3rd revision codes.
Number of heart operations and procedures 1987 1,254 1988 1,408 1989 1,986 1990 3,083
§ Mr. Barry JonesTo ask the secretary for Wales if he will make a statement concerning heart surgery in Wales.
§ Mr. Nicholas BennettOver £5 million will be made available over the next three years to enable the University hospital of Wales to perform 800 adult open heart operations each year with the associated level of cardiology. A further £2.5 million will be provided for the expansion of the hospital's paediatric cardiac unit which, when complete, will be equipped to undertake the full range of neonatal and infant cardiac surgery. Together, these developments will meet our objective of establishing the University hospital as a centre of excellence in the provision of cardiac services. Additionally, in 1992–93 further central funding of around £1.5 million will be made available to enable health authorities in south Wales to secure additional adult operations from other specialist centres.
I have also announced that an option appraisal will be undertaken to assess how the balance of our target of 1,200 adult open heart operations per annum can best be met.
§ Mr. Barry JonesTo ask the Secretary of State for Wales what is his target figure for heart operations in Wales; and what measures he is taking to enable more heart operations to take place in Wales.
§ Mr. Nicholas BennettOur target remains to increase capacity for cardiac surgery in south Wales such that 1,200 adult open heart operations are performed each year supported by the appropriate levels of cardiology. On 18 December, I announced a £6.5 million package of measures, centres at the University hospital of Wales, to506W commence the next phase of that development. Furthermore, an additional £2.5 million is being provided to equip the paediatric cardiac unit at the University hospital over the next three years to undertake the full range of neonatal and paediatric cardiac surgery.
In north Wales, additional central funding has been made available to secure an appropriate level of cardiac services from specialist centres supplementing that already available to purchase services from Mersey regional health authority.