HC Deb 12 December 1996 vol 287 cc350-1W
25. Mr. Jim Cunningham

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what are the current waiting times for elective surgery for patients in the Eastern health board area. [7340]

Mr. Moss

The following table records the number of those waiting for elective admission at 30 September 1996 in surgical specialties with trusts located in the Eastern health and social services board area together with the time spent on the waiting list at that date.

Time on waiting list for surgical specialties
6 months 6 to 11 months 12 to 17 months 18 to 23 months 24 months+ All durations
Oral surgery 337 144 49 22 12 564
Paediatric dentistry 60 8 1 2 0 71
Neurosurgery 123 95 47 32 50 347
Plastic surgery 845 769 513 289 136 2,552
Cardiac surgery 333 157 25 6 0 521
Paediatric surgery 490 334 244 132 141 1,341
Thoracic surgery 102 46 22 13 0 183
Anaesthetics 301 153 57 1 3 515
Total waiters1 13,421 6,578 1,999 751 453 23,202
Percentage of total waiters 57.84 28.35 8.62 3.24 1.95 100.00
1 Includes a total of 351 cases who were awaiting elective admission to surgical specialties having previously self deferred.