§ Mr. BakerTo ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people(a) nationally and (b) in East Sussex who had an operation on the NHS waited longer than one year for that operation in each year since 1992. [146699]
§ Mr. DenhamThe information requested is provided in the table.
We are committed to reducing waiting times for out-patient appointments and in-patient treatment. We addressed this in the NHS Plan announced in July 2000 where we pledged that by the end of 2005 the maximum in-patient waiting time would be cut from 18 months now to six months, and the maximum out-patient waiting time would be cut from over six months now to three months. Provided we can recruit the extra staff, and the National Health Service makes the necessary reforms, our eventual objective is to reduce the maximum wait for any stage of treatment to three months by the end of 2008.
Number of people resident in East Sussex, Brighton and Hove HA and England who had waited for more than a year for treatment East Sussex, Brighton and Hove England 1992–93 4,413 174,945 1993–94 4,763 180,411 1994–95 4,502 188,125 1995–96 5,571 156,257 1996–97 2,193 117,607 1997–98 3,901 189,371 1998–99 4,255 271,234 1999–2000 3,095 224,841 Note:
Figures for 1992–93 are the sum of Brighton, Eastbourne and Hastings district health authorities
Source:
Hospital Episode Statistics