Waiting Times (Hansard, 2 July 2001)

§ Mr. Hutton

The tables show waiting times for waiting list and booked admissions to National Health Service hospitals in England and the Northern and Yorkshire region for the years 1997–98 to 1999–2000 for hip replacements, heart operations, and cancer treatment. Data have been given on the distribution of waiting times to give a more informative picture than the two most extreme results. Data for 2000–01 are not yet available.

23W

Waiting list and booked admissions by waiting time for primary hip replacement operations only or revisions, by health authority area of residence—NHS hospitals, England 1997–98 to 1999–2000
	1997–98	1998–99	1999–2000
	North Yorkshire HA	England	North Yorkshire HA	England	North Yorkshire	England
Episodes with a valid waiting time	430	29,979	3,973	33,563	567	33,526
Waiting time
Up to six weeks	84	3,617	584	3,825	82	3,865
Six weeks to three months	78	4,164	552	4,239	89	4,375
Three to six months	102	7,062	840	7,227	110	7,106
Six to nine months	68	5,478	641	5,930	89	5,820
Nine months to one year	34	4,434	702	5,116	87	4,681
Over one year	64	5,224	654	7,226	110	7,679
Not known	23	1,105	325	1,052	152	1,150

Notes:

An FCE is defined as a period of patient care under one consultant in one health care provider. The figures do not represent the number of patients, as one person may have several episodes within the year.

The main operation is the first of four operation fields in the HES data set, and is usually the most resource intensive procedure performed during the episode.

Operation (OPCS4R) and diagnosis (ICD10) codes used are as follows:

Primary hip replacement operations—operation codes W37–39 and W46–48, excluding emergency admissions, and those with primary diagnosis S72 (fractured neck of femur). Revision operations—W37.3, W38.3, W39.3, W46.3, W47.3, W48.3, excluding emergency admissions and those with a primary diagnosis of S72 (fractured neck of femur).

Waiting time statistics from HES are not the same as the published waiting list statistics. HES provides counts and waiting times for all patients admitted to hospital within a given period whereas the published waiting list statistics count those waiting for treatment at a given point in time and how long they have been on the waiting list. Also, HES calculates the waiting time as the difference between the admission and decision to admit dates. Unlike published waiting list statistics, this is not adjusted for self-deferrals or periods of medical/social suspension.

Data in this table are not adjusted for shortfalls.

Patients whose waiting time is 'not known' are from a waiting list or booked admission where the date of decision to admit was invalid, therefore a duration of elective wait cannot be calculated.

Source:

Hospital Episode Statistics (HES), Department of Health.

Waiting list and booked admissions for heart operations by waiting time and health authority area of residence—NHS hospitals, England 1997–98 to 1999–2000
	1997–98	1998–99	1999–2000
	North Yorkshire HA	England	North Yorkshire HA	England	North Yorkshire HA	England
Episodes with a valid waiting time	577	93,599	797	107,741	958	107,868
Waiting time
Up to six weeks	267	38,106	356	42,314	398	43,216
Six weeks to three months	83	20,718	116	23,755	152	25,376
Three to six months	93	16,557	129	20,348	181	20,346
Six to nine months	55	7,914	65	8,860	72	8,509
Nine months to one year	38	6,157	73	7,231	77	5,539
Over one year	41	4,147	58	5,233	78	4,882
Not known	226	9,908	674	8,340	617	9,656

Notes:

The main operation is the first of four operation fields in the HES data set and is usually the most resource intensive procedure performed during the episode.

Operation (OPCS4R) codes used are as follows K01–K71.

Patients whose waiting time is 'not known' are from a waiting list or booked admission where the date of decision to admit was invalid, therefore a duration of elective wait cannot be calculated.

Data in this table are not adjusted for shortfalls.

Source:

Hospital Episode Statistics (HES), Department of Health.

24W 25W

Waiting list and booked admissions for cancer patients by waiting time, main diagnosis/operation and health authority area of residence—NHS hospitals, England 1997–98 to 1999–2000
	Episodes with a valid waiting time	Up to six weeks	Six weeks to three months	Three to six months	Six to nine months	Nine months to one year	Over one year	Not known
1997–98
North Yorkshire HA
Cancer (1)	4,275	3,541	437	178	52	48	19	1,052
Cancer (2)	3,640	2,958	401	163	51	48	19	847
England
Cancer (1)	378,013	333,352	28,614	10,766	2,950	1,234	1,097	88,667
Cancer (2)	293,533	252,988	25,674	9,961	2,756	1,155	999	66,058
1998–99
North Yorkshire HA
Cancer (1)	5,364	4,625	329	200	71	89	50	2,215
Cancer (2)	4,875	4,162	312	197	69	88	47	2,070
England
Cancer (1)	344,548	298,459	30,401	10,861	2,593	1,147	1,087	90,569
Cancer (2)	303,471	260,301	28,094	10,428	2,499	1,113	1,036	69,455
1999–2000
North Yorkshire HA
Cancer (1)	6,763	5,895	478	236	75	50	29	2,146
Cancer (2)	6,057	5,230	446	232	73	49	27	1,964
England
Cancer (1)	333,806	289,163	30,903	9,921	2,240	770	809	89,699
Cancer (2)	294,935	253,251	28,498	9,523	2,159	734	770	67,106

Notes:

The main operation is the first of four operation fields in the HES data set and is usually the most resource intensive procedure performed during the episode.

The main diagnosis is the first of seven diagnosis fields in the HES data set and provides the main reason why the patient was in hospital. Operation (OPCS4R) and diagnosis (ICD10) codes used are as follows:

Cancer (1)—Diagnosis 'COO-C97 Malignant/Neoplasms'

Cancer (2)—Diagnosis 'COO-C97 Malignant/Neoplasms' with any surgical operation or procedure.

Data in this table are not adjusted for shortfalls.

Patients whose waiting time is 'not known' are from a waiting list or booked admission where the date of decision to admit was invalid, therefore a duration of elective wait cannot be calculated.

Source:

Hospital Episode Statistics (HES), Department of Health.