§ Lord McColl of Dulwichasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether patients have had the right to have their varicose veins, sebaceous cysts and lipomas operated on under the National Health Service; if so, whether that right still exists; and, if not, what is their attitude to the provision of private health care for these patients. [HL4015]
§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Health (Lord Hunt of Kings Heath)Priority-setting is a necessary part of decision-making in the National Health Service. This Government are committed to increasing access to the NHS. An extra 450,000 waiting list cases were treated last year, and waiting lists for elective surgery have fallen to over 60,000 below the level inherited from the last government.