§ Mr. BluntTo ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list the waiting times at the East Surrey hospital for first routine out-patient appointments and admission for elective surgery treatment by each specialty area as at April 1997. [2313]
§ Ms JowellThe latest available information on waiting times for first outpatient appointments is contained in "Waiting Times for First Outpatient Appointments in England: Detailed Statistics, Quarter ended 31 December 1996", copies of which are available in the Library. This shows, by individual trust and specialty, the numbers of patients seen during the quarter following written referral to a consultant by a general practitioner and how long they had waited, by timeband.
Inpatient and day case waiting time information collected centrally does not identify separately those patients waiting for surgery. The information that is available covers all patients awaiting admission to hospital, whether it be for surgery or some other form of treatment. The latest gives the provisional position on 31 March 1997 and shows that on that date there were 4,508 patients awaiting admission to East Surrey Hospital of whom 4,282 had been waiting less than 12 months. Provisional information is not available by specialty. Final figures due to be published next month in "Hospital Waiting List Statistics: England at 31 March 1997" will be presented on a trust and specialty basis.