§ Caroline FlintTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what right NHS patients have to access to information on the length of consultants' waiting lists before they are referred for treatment by their general practitioners; and if he will make a statement. [100643]
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§ Ms StuartPatients are entitled to ask their general practitioner about the length of the hospital consultants' waiting lists in their area before being referred to a consultant. Most National Health Service trusts routinely send information to local GPs on waiting times for their consultants, and patients can access this information by phoning the Health Information Service on freephone 0800 66 55 44.
The Department also publishes data on the Internet on how long patients have waited for outpatient appointments and how long people are waiting on in-patient lists by speciality and by NHS trust.