§ Mr. BurstowTo ask the Secretary of State for Health how long people waited for services in the last five years to be provided after their first contact as recorded in PAF PI D43, broken down by(a) age and (b) length of wait. [130875]
§ Dr. LadymanThere is insufficient data available to answer this question in full, as national estimates on waiting times are available only for 2001–02.
The estimated length of time between first contact and first service for new clients aged 18 and over for the year 2001–02 and the relevant percentages for each time band, are shown in the table, broken down by age group.
We are unable to provide any estimated figures for England 2000–01 as only 52 local authorities provided data for the relevant return. Data for years previous to 2000–01 were not collected.
made, which to date is bringing over £100 million of investment into the NHS, and giving patients access to improved communications.
Patient bedside televisions and telephones are operational in 95 hospitals, including 76 major facilities. We want all major hospitals to at least have a contract agreed by the end of 2003, and to have the system installed by the end of 2004. The exception will be a small number of hospitals with public finance initiative schemes which will install the system as their new hospitals come on line. We have also worked with suppliers in order to enable them to introduce the system to smaller sites, so as many NHS patients as possible can have access to the service.