§ Mr. MorganTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what independent evaluation she has made, and proposes to make, of the costs and benefits of reduction and elimination of long wait elective surgery cases; and if she will publish such a study at appropriate intervals.
§ Mr. SackvilleNone. Waiting times have improved dramatically under this Government and we are determined to build on this success. Since 1987 we have provided a waiting time fund totalling nearly £200 million which has enabled additional long-wait patients to be treated from waiting lists. The introduction of the waiting time guarantee under the patients charter means that for the first time patients do not have to face an interminable wait for treatment.