§ Mr. MilburnTo ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to his answer of 7 March, Official Report, column 324, if he will now provide comparable information on cancelled operations during the fourth quarter of 1995–96. [28939]
§ Mr. HoramThe information will be placed in the Library.
The national health service carries out some 5.5 million operations annually. Less than 1 per cent. are cancelled on the day the patient is due to arrive, or after arrival, in hospital, and 89 per cent. of patients whose operations are cancelled are readmitted within one month.