§ Mr. McGradyTo ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what assessment he has made of the impact of the decision of the Royal Group of Hospitals announced on 30 October in relation to surgical operations on the waiting lists for various procedures for the Down Health and Social Services Lisburn trust area. [2760]
§ Mr. MossAs a result of the budget savings which were required this year to meet priority developments, fewer elective surgical operations will take place and waiting lists and times will therefore increase to some extent. However, this must be judged in the context of the enormous inroads which have been made into waiting lists350W and waiting times since 1992. For example, in that year, about 3,000 patients were waiting two years or more for admission. In March this year, virtually nobody was waiting more than two years, while 800 were waiting more than 18 months. The number of patients treated has risen continually over the same period from a total of 330,000 ordinary admissions and day cases in 1991–l92 to approximately 400,000 approximately in 1995–96.