§ Mr. BurstowTo ask the Secretary of State for Health how many out-patients were waiting for treatment for more than six months in each of the last 10 years in the(a) Sutton and Cheam constituency and (b) Merton, Sutton and Wandsworth Health Authority. [146378]
§ Mr. DenhamThe data requested are not held by constituency.
Data on outpatients were not collected prior to 1997.
The number of patients waiting longer than six months for a first outpatient appointment resulting from a general practitioner referral in Merton Sutton and Wandsworth as at 31 March is as follows:
602W
Year Number of patients waiting 1997–98 185 1998–99 1,014 1999–2000 1,273