HC Deb 19 January 2004 vol 416 cc1071-2W
Mr. Burstow

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what mechanisms are in place to monitor progress made by(a) strategic health authorities and (b) primary care trusts in reducing waiting times for diagnostic testing. [147270]

Mr. Hutton

Waits for diagnostic services are not recorded nationally.

The Government is committed to improving access to diagnostic services and the Department is working in partnership with strategic health authorities (SHAs) and other stakeholders to secure a more responsive service. Each SHA is responsible for developing and implementing local improvement programmes for diagnostic services and to monitor progress against any locally agreed objectives.

Mr. Burstow

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what progress has been made by the Changing Workforce Programme in redesigning the roles of diagnostic staff to reduce waiting times. [147271]

Mr. Hutton

The Changing Workforce Programme is supporting the development of a number of roles designed to help the National Health Service provide speedier access to high quality services.

In particular, the roles of assistant practitioner and advanced practitioner will help reduce waiting times for radiography services. An accelerated development programme is supporting the implementation of these roles across a network of hospital trusts. To date, 81 assistant practitioners in radiography are in training or scheduled to receive training in 2004, while 79 trainees are working towards advanced practitioner status.

It is anticipated that the majority of plain film imaging will be performed by assistant practitioners under the supervision of qualified radiographers. This will release radiographers' time and allow them to focus on more complex issues, thus increasing service capacity. Once the assistant practitioners are fully trained, further data will be collected to evaluate the impact on waiting times and access to services.

The appointment of advanced practitioners in diagnostic areas such as computer tomography imaging, trauma imaging and gastro-intestinal imaging, has already contributed to a reduction in waiting times. For example, at one site, the waiting time for a barium enema has been reduced from 30 weeks to one week since advanced practitioners have been performing this procedure.

Dr. Murrison

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the average wait was for patients to be seen by their own general practitioner in the last year for which figures are available; and what proportion were seen within 48 hours. [147511]

Mr. Hutton

Data are collected on availability of access to primary medical services rather than actual waiting times. Information for November 2003 shows that 94 per cent. of the population was able to be offered an appointment to see a general practitioner within two working days.