§ Mrs. MayTo ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list the waiting lists for hip replacement operations by hospital trust on(a) 31 March 1997 and (b) 31 March 1998. [39618]
§ Mr. MilburnWaiting list information collected centrally is specialty based and does not show numbers of patients waiting for particular procedures.
§ Mr. Bob RussellTo ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what is the Government's target for the maximum period for which a patient should have to wait for a hip replacement operation; [39955]
(2) how many patients in the Colchester constituency are awaiting hip replacement operations; what is the average length of time a patient has to wait; and what measures are to be taken to reduce the waiting time. [39954]
§ Mr. MilburnThe information requested about patients awaiting hip replacement operations in the Colchester constituency area is not available centrally. Last November my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State promised that by 31 March 1998 no patient would wait more than eighteen months for admission to hospital. Provisional management information indicates we achieved this in England. We are also committed to reducing waiting lists to 100,000 below the level we inherited by the end of the present Parliament. As the numbers of patients awaiting admission to hospital start to reduce, average waiting times should also begin to fall.