§ 26. Mr. BarnesTo ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement regarding his Department's policy on reducing the length of patient waiting lists. [429]
§ Mr. MilburnWe will reduce the bureaucratic costs of the NHS and the savings achieved will be used to improve direct patient care by treating more NHS patients. Our commitment is to end waiting times for cancer surgery and in particular to speed up the diagnosis and treatment for patients with breast cancer.
§ Mr. CorbynTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what is his Department's estimate of waiting times for elective surgery in each London health district for the latest available date. [515]
§ Ms JowellWaiting time information collected centrally does not identify separately those patients waiting for surgery. Figures are at specialty level and include all patients waiting for admission to hospital, whether it be for operations, medical treatment, assessment, therapy or rehabilitation.
The latest information on patients waiting for elective admission by individual health authority is published in "Hospital Waiting List Statistics: England (Resident Based) at 31 December 1996", copies of which are available in the Library.