§ Mr. Laurence RobertsonTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what the average wait is for a GP referral to a hospital specialist for a back pain appointment in (a) England and (b) Gloucestershire; what steps he is taking to reduce this waiting time; and if he will make a statement. [64445]
§ Mr. HuttonThe information requested is not collected. Waiting times are not collected by diagnostic group. General practitioners referrals to out-patient attendance are collected by medical consultant specialty. A patient with back pain may be seen by any one of a number of medical consultants in different specialties, though often to rheumatology or orthopaedics. Within these specialties, we have no further breakdown by diagnostic group.
The NHS Plan sets out the progress we want to make on waiting times over the coming years. Each year these will fall, by the end of 2005 the maximum out-patient waiting time for a first out-patient appointment will be cut to three months. Urgent cases will continue to be treated much faster.
As a step towards achieving the NHS Plan targets, from 1 April a new maximum waiting time of six months has been established for patients waiting for their first out-patient appointments with a medical consultant.