HC Deb 01 November 2001 vol 373 cc832-5W
Mr. Laws

To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people have been waiting for(a) in-patient and (b) out-patient operations for each reporting period over the last 20 years; what proportion of these people have been waiting for (i) more than two years, (ii) more than 18 months, (iii) more than one year, (iv) more than nine months and (v) more than six months; and if he will make a statement. [10808]

Mr. Hutton

[holding answer 31 October 2001]: The information requested is in the tables.

As part of the NHS Plan, the national health service is working towards reducing the current maximum in-patient wait of 18 months to 15 months by March 2002, 12 months by March 2003, nine months by March 2004 and finally six months by the end of 2005. The maximum out-patient waiting time will fall from over six months today to six months by March 2002 and three months by 2005. No specific targets have been set within the NHS Plan for further reducing waiting lists but modelling suggests that as waiting times fall so waiting lists will shorten.

In January 2001, the British Association of Otorhinolaryngologists released guidance on the use of single-use instruments for tonsillectomy and adenoidectomy operations due to the theoretical risk of contracting vCJD. This had an effect on in-patient waiting lists due to the number of patients waiting for these types of operations.

Of those on in-patient waiting list, percentage who have waited:
Quarter Size of in-patient waiting list More than 6 months More than 9 months More than 12 months More than 18 months More than 24 months
March 1985 674,453 n/a n/a 25.4 n/a n/a
June 1985 n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a
September 1985 661,249 n/a n/a 24.2 n/a n/a
December 1985 n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a
March 1986 673,107 n/a n/a 24.0 n/a n/a
June 1986 n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a
September 1986 681,901 n/a n/a 24.2 n/a n/a
December 1986 n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a
March 1987 687,945 n/a n/a 23.6 n/a n/a
June 1987 n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a
September 1987 848,022 45.0 32.8 24.7 n/a 10.7
December 1987 873,130 44.1 32.2 24.1 n/a 10.5
March 1988 876,246 43.5 32.4 23.7 n/a 10.0
June 1988 878,306 44.1 33.2 24.2 n/a 10.1
September 1988 900,051 44.7 33.5 24.4 n/a 10.2
December 1988 931,495 44.3 32.0 24.0 n/a 9.9
March 1989 922,676 44.3 31.7 24.2 n/a 10.0
June 1989 922,877 43.5 31.7 23.6 n/a 9.6
September 1989 929,056 43.4 31.8 23.5 n/a 9.5
December 1989 971,845 42.5 29.4 22.5 n/a 8.9
March 1990 958,976 41.8 29.7 21.7 n/a 8.4
June 1990 955,786 41.7 29.3 21.6 n/a 7.9
September 1990 957,533 41.7 28.0 21.2 n/a 7.4
December 1990 965,520 39.9 25.8 19.5 n/a 6.4
March 1991 948,243 39.0 26.8 17.9 n/a 5.4
June 1991 964,050 39.0 24.6 17.8 n/a 5.3
September 1991 947,842 37.5 21.7 16.7 n/a 4.6
December 1991 950,098 34.1 16.1 13.7 n/a 3.2
March 1992 917,717 29.5 26. 8.8 n/a 0.2
June 1992 937,054 29.9 17.0 9.1 2.2 0.1
September 1992 939,740 30.5 16.6 8.6 1.8 0.1
December 1992 977,189 28.9 15.8 7.5 1.3 0.1
March 1993 994,974 27.4 13.6 5.7 0.5 0.0
June 1993 1,019,341 29.1 14.9 6.5 0.5 0.0
September 1993 1,032,038 30.5 15.5 6.9 0.6 0.0
December 1993 1,065,782 30.0 16.3 7.0 0.6 0.0
March 1994 1,065,369 28.5 14.5 6.1 0.4 0.0
June 1994 1,077,497 28.3 14.5 6.1 0.4 0.0
September 1994 1,071,101 28.5 13.9 5.8 0.4 0.0
December 1994 1,070,492 26.7 13.1 5.1 0.3 0.0
March 1995 1,044,051 23.1 9.9 3.1 0.0 0.0
June 1995 1,052,958 23.2 9.9 3.1 0.0 0.0
September 1995 1,040,152 23.5 9.1 2.7 0.0 0.0
December 1995 1,054,948 21.8 8.6 1.9 0.0 0.0
March 1996 1,048,029 19.9 6.8 0.4 0.0 0.0
June 1996 1,056,122 21.2 7.7 1.0 0.0 0.0
September 1996 1,061,557 22.6 8.4 1.4 0.0 0.0
December 1996 1,104,983 23.1 9.6 2.0 0.0 0.0
March 1997 1,158,004 25.0 10.5 2.7 0.0 0.0
June 1997 1,189,962 26.7 12.2 3.9 0.0 0.0
September 1997 1,207,515 28.0 13.4 4.8 0.1 0.0
December 1997 1,261,915 29.1 14.3 5.4 0.1 0.0
March 1998 1,297,662 29.5 14.5 5.2 0.0 0.0
June 1998 1,287,543 29.7 14.8 5.6 0.0 0.0
September 1998 1,213,839 28.6 13.8 5.2 0.0 0.0
December 1998 1,173,598 26.9 13.3 4.8 0.0 0.0
March 1999 1,072,860 26.1 12.4 4.4 0.0 0.0
June 1999 1,094,251 25.5 12.3 4.5 0.0 0.0
September 1999 1,084,157 25.9 12.3 4.7 0.0 0.0
December 1999 1,108,006 25.8 12.6 4.7 0.0 0.0
March 2000 1,037,066 25.9 12.4 4.7 0.0 0.0
June 2000 1,047,890 26.1 12.7 4.9 0.0 0.0
September 2000 1,031,824 26.7 12.6 5.0 0.0 0.0
December 2000 1,034,381 25.8 12.8 4.8 0.0 0.0
March 2001 1,006,727 24.4 11.4 4.2 0.0 0.0
June 2001 1,037,875 25.7 12.1 4.5 0.0 0.0

Note:

Before September 1987 figures relate to ordinary (overnight) admissions. Number of people waiting for day cases were not collected before this date.

Source:

KHO7 quarterly return

Of those on out-patient waiting list, number who have waited:
Quarter Size of out-patient waiting list 3 to 6 months more than 6 months more than 9 months more than 12 months more than 18 months more than 24 months
June 1955 n/a 214,165 87,436 n/a n/a n/a n/a
September 1995 n/a 218,339 72,688 n/a n/a n/a n/a
December 1995 n/a 185,887 60,906 n/a n/a n/a n/a
March 1996 n/a 157,633 58,501 n/a n/a n/a n/a
June 1996 n/a 168,792 52,385 n/a n/a n/a n/a
September 1996 n/a 201,586 61,952 n/a n/a n/a n/a
December 1996 n/a 188,644 68,512 n/a n/a n/a n/a
March 1997 n/a 176,799 70,689 n/a n/a n/a n/a
June 1997 n/a 210,075 84,997 n/a n/a n/a n/a
September 1997 n/a 253,051 90,123 n/a n/a n/a n/a
December 1997 n/a 249,039 106,961 n/a n/a n/a n/a
March 1998 n/a 221,732 112,250 n/a n/a n/a n/a
June 1998 n/a 269,013 108,684 n/a n/a n/a n/a
September 1998 n/a 310,863 126,312 n/a n/a n/a n/a
December 1998 n/a 323,218 144,404 n/a n/a n/a n/a
March 1999 n/a 303,246 152,787 n/a n/a n/a n/a
June 1999 n/a 338,752 145,896 n/a n/a n/a n/a
September 1999 n/a 362,794 149,247 n/a n/a n/a n/a
December 1999 n/a 336,457 159,211 n/a n/a n/a n/a
March 2000 n/a 269,385 132,223 n/a n/a n/a n/a
June 2000 n/a 314,157 130,335 n/a n/a n/a n/a
September 2000 n/a 309,928 125,84.0 n/a n/a n/a n/a
December 2000 n/a 285,519 113,618 n/a n/a n/a n/a
March 2001 n/a 201,981 81,847 n/a n/a n/a n/a
June 2001 n/a 274,421 85,099 n/a n/a n/a n/a

Notes:

Out-patient data not available prior to June 1995.

Data on the total number of patients on out-patient waiting list is not collected.

Data on the number of out-patients waiting over nine, over 12, over 18 and over 24 months is not collected.

Source:

QM08 quarterly return