§ Mr. MorganTo ask the Secretary of State for Wales what statistics he has on the number of patients waiting for in-patient treatment and out-patient diagnosis longer than the patients charter maximum for reasons relating to(a) exercising choice of consultants, (b) failure to attend for first out-patient consultation and (c) other reasons; and if he will make a statement. [6165]
§ Mr. HagueAll patients who have been on the in-patient or out-patient waiting lists for longer than the patients charter targets are reported to the Welsh Office and the numbers are published in "NHS Wales: Quarterly Statistics" available in the Library. No separate analysis is made of those patients who exercise a choice of consultants: to do so would impose an unacceptable administrative burden on hospitals. If patients who fail to780W attend for out-patient appointments are referred back to their GPs, they would normally be removed from the waiting list.