§ Mr. RichardsTo ask the Secretary of State for Wales what proposals he has to reduce the waiting time for treatment of specific disabling conditions; and if he will make a statement.
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§ Mr. David HuntI intend to strengthen and extend the guarantees in the patients charter for Wales by introducing two additional guarantees, which will take effect from 1 April 1993.
No patient in Wales will have to wait more than 18 months for a hip or knee replacement or cataract operation. Those conditions can reduce the quality of life and merit priority attention. I shall expect health authorities in Wales to make full use of the services provided by the treatment centres that I have established to ensure that that commitment is met.
I shall also introduce a guarantee that no patient in Wales will have to wait longer than one month for urgent in-patient or day case treatment. This is already a management target to which health authorities are committed.
In order to assist authorities in Wales to achieve the patients charter guarantees, additional funding of £1 million will be made available to district health authorities and to GP fund holders, through family health authorities under the 1992–93 waiting times initiative.