§ Mr. KeetchTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list the waiting list targets for the(a) Defence Secondary Care Agency and (b) Ministry of Defence Hospital Units; and what progress in meeting these targets has been achieved. [121368]
§ Mr. Caplin[holding answer 30 June 2003]: The waiting time targets set by the Defence Secondary Care Agency (DSCA) for 2002–03 for first out-patient appointment and for in-patient and day-case treatment, and the achievement against them, first, by the Royal Centre for Defence Medicine (RCDM), the MOD Hospital Units (MDHUs) and the Royal Surrey County-Hospital only and, second, by all DSCA units, are set out in the following table. The Royal Surrey County Hospital has been included because it provides oromaxillofacial treatment under similar arrangements to those at the MDHUs.
Percentages Waiting time target 45 per cent, of patients to be offered first out-patient appointment within four weeks of referral 90 per cent, of patients to be offered first out-patient appointment within 13 weeks of referral Average waiting time achieved by all DSCA units 53 90 Inpatient and Day case waiting time target and achievement.
Percentages Waiting time target 80 per cent, of patients to be offered a treatment date within 13 weeks of the decision to admit the patient Average waiting time achieved by RCDM, MDHUs and Royal Surrey County Hospital (for oromaxillofacial treatment only) 77 Average waiting time achieved by all DSCA units 83 Overall, the figures reflect small annual improvements in meeting waiting time targets.
The DSCA was disbanded on 31 March 2003, when responsibility for secondary health care commissioning and performance management passed to the Defence Medical Services Department. The same in-patient and out-patient waiting time targets apply for 2003–04, but information on the first quarter's achievement is not yet available.