§ 27. Mr. SwayneTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the likely impact of the current administrative reorganisation and prioritisation of waiting lists on the overall figures. [51002]
§ Mr. MilburnThe impact of our waiting list strategy will be to provide record growth in National Health Service activity to bring down waiting lists over the lifetime of this Parliament by 100,000 from the position we inherited.
168WWe have already eliminated over 18 month waits for treatment for the first time ever and we intend to continue to deliver this guarantee.
§ Mr. HesfordTo ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on the current trends in hospital waiting lists. [50993]
§ Mr. MilburnAs my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Health told the Health Select Committee last week, provisional data show that waiting lists stopped rising in May and fell by around 21,000 in June. Validated figures will be published in due course. This is clear evidence that we are making real progress in reversing the legacy of rising waiting lists inherited from the previous administration.