§ Mr. McGradyTo ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many people are on the waiting list for orthopaedic operations; how long they have been on the waiting list; and what is the expected date for their operation.
§ Mr. AncramThe number of people and the length of time for which they have been waiting for treatment in the trauma and orthopaedic speciality at 31 December 1993, the latest date for which information is available, is set out in the table:
Waiting times (months) Ordinary Admissions Day Cases Total 0–2 847 215 1,062 3–5 564 165 729 6–8 501 115 616 9–11 374 69 443 12–14 242 63 305 15–17 211 61 272 18–20 134 45 179 21–23 139 23 162 24+ 178 9 187 Totals 3,190 765 3,955 With regard to the final part of the question about expected dates for the above patients' operations, this information is not held centrally.
§ Mr. McGradyTo ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what financial amounts have been allocated to orthopaedic surgery in Northern Ireland from 1 April 1980 to 31 March 1994 under(a) PARR and (b) capitation funding; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. AncramNone. Capitation funding, like its predecessor PARR, is not a mechanism for distributing resources for specific services. It is a means of allocating total revenue resources to the four health and social services boards which, in the light of perceived need, other competing service demands and the amount of resources available, then determine the amount to spend on specific services such as orthopaedic.
Information about the amount spent on orthopaedic surgery in Northern Ireland from 1 April 1980 to 31 March 1994 is not available centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.