§ Mr. BayleyTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what consideration underlay the decision of Salisbury NHS trust to defer non-urgent elective admissions from Bath and Wiltshire health commission until April 1996; for what reasons it was able to admit similar patients referred by fundholding general practitioner practices; and what representations(a) his Department and (b) the NHS executive have made to the Salisbury trust about this issue. [40714]
§ Mr. SackvilleNon-urgent elective admissions from the health commission for Wiltshire and Bath have not been deferred until 1996. Patients from general practitioners whether fundholders or not are having routine operations at the trust. Routine admissions have been slowed to take account of an unexpected 15 per cent. increase in activity. The national health service executive is working closely with the trust to monitor progress.