§ Lord Craig of Radleyasked Her Majesty's Government:
How many service men and women currently waiting for secondary care medical treatment expect to receive their treatment within (a) four weeks and (b) 13 weeks of referral to their consultant; and how many may expect to have to wait for over six months. [HL2717]
§ Lord GilbertIt is not possible to provide a precise forecast of expected waiting times for service personnel waiting for secondary healthcare at any particular time. However, extrapolating from performance in 1998–99, we estimate that, of the 4,211 service patients who on the 30 March 1999 were waiting for their initial outpatient appointment at units of the Defence Secondary Care Agency, 1,642, or 39 per cent., will have been seen within four weeks and a further 1,685, or an additional 40 per cent., within 13 weeks.
No statistics are maintained of longer waiting times, but very few cases would have involved a wait of more than six months.