Hospital Waiting Lists (Hansard, 19 July 1996)

§ Mr. Simon Hughes
To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will list the current median waiting periods for patients needing(a) hip replacement treatment, and (b) cataract treatment at (i) each hospital where this operation is provided and (ii) in Wales indicating the equivalent waiting times for the two preceding years. [37500]

§ Mr. Gwilym Jones
The median time between the date of decision to admit and the date of admission is given in the table for patients admitted in 1995–96 and the two preceding years. As some results are based on a small number of operations, there are some large fluctuations from year to year.
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Hip replacements Cataract operations

Median waiting times (days) 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96

St. Woolos ¹— ¹— ¹— 196 239 289

Tredegar 91 ¹— ¹— ¹— ¹— ¹—

University Hospital of Wales ¹— ¹— ¹— 81 113 ¹—

West Wales general ²— ²— ²— ²— ²— ²—

Withybush general 453 400 286 31 267 ²—

Wrexham Maelor 160 133 174 360 385 228

Ysbyty Gwynedd 124 119 96 106 210 158

Source:
Patients Episode Database for Wales.
¹ Not applicable: the operation was not performed at this hospital.
² Not available: although the operation was performed by this hospital the relevant data were not supplied.

§ Mr. Morgan
To ask the Secretary of State for Wales when he intends to commence(a) collection and (b) publication of statistics on total waiting times for treatment for patients referred on or after 1 April 1995 on an equivalent basis to the combined wait times published in the hospital waiting times bulletin. [38572]

§ Mr. Jones
Information about those patients who (i) were referred on or after 1 April 1995; (ii) are still waiting; and (iii) have a total waiting time of more than 18 months is to be collected on a quarterly basis from December 1996. Information on those with a total waiting time of more than two years will be collected from June 1997.
The total waiting time is the time elapsed since referral by the patient's GP. It is not equivalent to the likely combined wait as given in the booklet "Waiting Times Information", published by the Welsh Health Common Services Authority.
Publication of information about total waiting times is planned for the September 1997 issue of "NHS Wales: Quarterly Statistics".

§ Mr. Morgan
To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what statistical information he has collated on the average wait between first out-patient consultation and a decision to admit a patient by(a) health authority, (b) hospital trust and (c) specialism. [38568]

§ Mr. Hague
None.

§ Mr. Morgan
To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what considerations underlay his Department's decision to discontinue publication of the quarterly Welsh hospital waiting list bulletin; what consultations he undertook prior to this decision; what representations he has received on this matter; how many issues of the bulletin were published; and at what cost to public funds. [38451]

§ Mr. Jones
This bi-annual publication was discontinued in May 1995 as part of a package of improvements to the programme of health statistics publications which has been welcomed by the NHS in Wales.
More timely aggregate waiting list figures are now published in "NHS Wales: Quarterly Statistics" which has been issued each quarter since June 1995.
Detailed waiting list figures continue to be published annually in the new "Health Statistics Wales" series. As a single volume, this new publication provides a definitive official statement on health statistics each year.
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The decision to discontinue the bulletin also reflected reductions to the frequency that hospitals were being asked to return detailed waiting list figures to my Department and the increased availability of alternative information on expected waiting times for individual consultants.
The changes to the programme of health statistics publications were the subject of consultation with the NHS Welsh information managers group in May 1995.
In total, 23 issues of the bulletin were published from March 1984 to March 1995. The cost of printing the last bulletin was £1,300, making an estimated total cost of around £30,000, at 1995 prices, for printing the complete series.
Earlier this year, comments on the new "Health Statistics, Wales" publication were received from 62 respondents to a readership survey; 57 of these said that they used the waiting list chapter. None asked for more information on waiting lists to be published.

§ Mr. Morgan
To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will establish a patients charter standard for the length of time a patient waits between out-patient consultation and decision to admit. [38567]

§ Mr. Hague
It would be difficult to develop a standard that would allow for all the clinical factors that sometimes give rise to a delay between the out-patient consultation and the decision to admit. However, the total waiting times guarantee includes this period of time and encourages hospitals to adopt best practice.

§ Mr. Morgan
To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what assessment he has made of the reasons for the fall in the number on hospital waiting lists for first out-patient appointments between 31 March 1994 and 31 March 1995; and what percentage of the change occurred because of increased number of patients seen by consultants. [38573]

§ Mr. Hague
The out-patient waiting list can fall for a number of reasons, including changes in the number of referrals to hospital clinics, the number of new patients seen at these clinics and patients being taken off the list as they no longer require a specialist opinion.
During 1994–95, hospitals saw 25,000 more new out-patients than in the previous year, an increase of 4 per cent. Between 31 March 1994 and 31 March 1995, the total out-patient waiting list fell by 17,000. As information is held centrally only on the number of 689W new out-patients seen, it is not possible accurately to assess what proportion of the fall in the total list is due to the number of people seen by consultants.

§ Mr. Morgan
To ask the Secretary of State for Wales when he expects to publish(a) hospital waiting list data for the year ended 31 March and (b) quarterly data for the period up to 31 December. [38571]

§ Mr. Hague
Information relating to the number on hospital waiting lists at 31 March 1996 was published in the release of "NHS Wales: Quarterly Statistics" issued on 12 June 1996. Copies were placed in the House Library and the Vote Office. The publication of releases including information on waiting lists for June, September, and December 1996 is planned for 18 September 1996, 18 December 1996 and 12 March 1997 respectively.

	Hip replacements	Cataract operations
Median waiting times (days)	1993–94	1994–95	1995–96	1993–94	1994–95	1995–96
St. Woolos	¹—	¹—	¹—	196	239	289
Tredegar	91	¹—	¹—	¹—	¹—	¹—
University Hospital of Wales	¹—	¹—	¹—	81	113	¹—
West Wales general	²—	²—	²—	²—	²—	²—
Withybush general	453	400	286	31	267	²—
Wrexham Maelor	160	133	174	360	385	228
Ysbyty Gwynedd	124	119	96	106	210	158