HC Deb 17 July 2003 vol 409 cc661-2W
Mr. Wiggin

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what action he has taken with respect to the discovery in March that chief executives of some hospitals had altered waiting list figures. [123601]

Mr. Hutton

The Department asked the Audit Commission to carry out a series of spot checks to further improve data quality and to reassure the public that published waiting times statistics remain robust.

The Department asked all trusts subject to spot checks to report back on the auditor's findings and to confirm that action had been taken to address those findings. In the three trusts identified by the Audit Commission as deliberately misreporting prompt action was taken. This action involved commissioning independent external reviews and taking appropriate disciplinary action taken, which is still ongoing.

Chris Grayling

To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to his answer of 9 April 2003,Official Report, column 334W, on waiting times, whether anyone waited for more than 24 months for cancer treatment. [118301]

Miss Melanie Johnson

The figures for people waiting over 24 months for heart operations, hip replacements and cancer treatment, which appeared on 9 April 2003,Official Report, column 334W, were incorrectly printed. The Official Report has been notified of the error, which will be corrected in the Bound Volume.

The correct figures are shown in the table

Waiting more than 24 months
Heart operations 0
Hip replacements 9
Cancer treatment (Neoplasms) 8

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