§ 32. Mr. ChidgeyTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what actions he plans to take to reduce waiting lists in Winchester and Eastleigh in the next 12 months. [13841]
§ Mr. MilburnWe expect health authorities and trusts to work together to reverse the trend in runaway growth in waiting lists and times that we inherited from the previous Government. This will take time but the extra £269 million we have re-assigned for the National Health Service in England for 1997-98, the extra £1 billion for next year announced by my right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer in July and the further cuts in NHS bureaucracy to be announced shortly will help.
§ Rev. Martin SmythTo ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on the pattern of waiting lists throughout the United Kingdom, indicating the top three regions and specialties where the lists are greatest.
§ Mr. SpringTo ask the Secretary of State for Health when he expects to meet his targets to reduce NHS waiting lists. [13812]
§ Mr. MilburnIn England we inherited runaway growth in waiting lists from our predecessors. The £269 million we have re-directed to the National Health Service in England for 1997-98 and the extra £1 billion for next year announced by my right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer in July will help health authorities and trusts to begin to restrain that growth. The latest available information about waiting lists in individual regions and specialties is contained in "Hospital Waiting List Statistics: England (Resident Based) Quarter ended 30 June 1997", copies of which are available in the Library. Questions relating to Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland are matters for my right hon. Friends the Secretaries of State for Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, respectively.