Waiting Lists/Times (Hansard, 17 May 2004)

§ Mr. Kaufman
To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many and what percentage of suspected cancer patients in Manchester, Gorton saw an NHS consultant within two weeks in each of the last seven years. [167386]

§ Miss Melanie Johnson
The information requested is shown in the table.
Notes:
1. A finished admission episode is the first period of in-patient care under one consultant within one health care provider. Please note that admissions do not represent the number of in-patients, as a person may have more than one admission within the year.
2. Time waited statistics from Hospital Episode Statistics (HES) are not the same as the published waiting list statistics. HES provides counts and time waited for all patients admitted to hospital within a given period whereas the published waiting list statistics count those waiting for treatment on a specific date and how long they have been on the waiting list. Also, HES calculates the time waited as the difference between the admission and decision to admit dates. Unlike published waiting list statistics, this is not adjusted for self-deferrals or periods of medical/social suspension.
3. Figures have not been adjusted for shortfalls in data (i.e., the data is ungrossed).
Source:
Hospital Episode Statistics (HES), Department of Health.

§ Mr. Cummings
To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the waiting times are for hip replacements within the(a) Sunderland, (b) Easington, (c) Hartlepool and (d) Durham primary care trusts. [1608307]

§ Miss Melanie Johnson
The information requested is shown in the table.
823W

PCT—Primary care trust code Finished admissions Time waited mean (days)

5D9 Hartlepool PCT 153 145

5J8 Durham Dales PCT 165 237

5KC Durham and Chester-le-Street PCT 193 247

5KD Easington PCT 149 233

5KL Sunderland Teaching PCT 385 293

Notes:

1. A finished admission episode is the first period of in-patient care under one consultant within one healthcare provider. Please note that admissions do not represent the number of in-patients, as a person may have more than one admission within the year.

2. Time waited statistics from Hospital Episode Statistics (HES) are not the same as the published waiting list statistics. HES provides counts and time waited for all patients admitted to hospital within a given period whereas the published waiting list statistics count those waiting for treatment on a specific date and how long they have been on the waiting list. Also, HES calculates the time waited as the difference between the admission and decision to admit dates. Unlike published waiting list statistics, this is not adjusted for self-deferrals or periods of medical/social suspension.

3. The main operation is the first recorded operation in the HES data set and is usually the most resource intensive procedure performed during the episode. It is appropriate to use main operation when looking at admission details, e.g. time waited, but the figures for "all operations count of episodes" give a more complete count of episodes with an operation.

4. Figures have not been adjusted for shortfalls in data (i.e. the data are ungrossed).

Source:

Hospital Episode Statistics (HES), Department of Health.

§ Mr. Baron
To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what the(a) shortest, (b) longest and (c) medium waiting times were for first diagnostic appointments to consultant (i) neurologists, (ii) geriatricians and (iii) physicians for people suspected of having Parkinson's disease in of the last five years for which figures are available; [172578]
(2) how many patients were in the latter stages of Parkinson's accessed hospice care in each of the last five years for which figures are available. [172579]
824W

§ Mr. Hutton
[holding answer 11 May 2004]: The information requested is not collected centrally. However, the Department is driving forward a major programme of work to improve equality of access to all national health service treatment and care services. Maximum waiting times have fallen over the past few years and will continue to do so. By the end of 2005, the maximum waiting time for a first out-patient appointment with a consultant will fall to three months and the maximum wait for inpatient treatment will fall to six months.
The Department is developing a national service framework for long term conditions, which will focus on improving services for people with neurological conditions such as Parkinson's Disease. The Department has also commissioned the National Institute for Clinical Excellence to prepare guidelines for the diagnosis, management and treatment of Parkinson's disease in primary and secondary care. We expect that the guidelines will be published in spring 2006.

	PCT—Primary care trust code	Finished admissions	Time waited mean (days)
5D9	Hartlepool PCT	153	145
5J8	Durham Dales PCT	165	237
5KC	Durham and Chester-le-Street PCT	193	247
5KD	Easington PCT	149	233
5KL	Sunderland Teaching PCT	385	293
Notes:
1. A finished admission episode is the first period of in-patient care under one consultant within one healthcare provider. Please note that admissions do not represent the number of in-patients, as a person may have more than one admission within the year.
2. Time waited statistics from Hospital Episode Statistics (HES) are not the same as the published waiting list statistics. HES provides counts and time waited for all patients admitted to hospital within a given period whereas the published waiting list statistics count those waiting for treatment on a specific date and how long they have been on the waiting list. Also, HES calculates the time waited as the difference between the admission and decision to admit dates. Unlike published waiting list statistics, this is not adjusted for self-deferrals or periods of medical/social suspension.
3. The main operation is the first recorded operation in the HES data set and is usually the most resource intensive procedure performed during the episode. It is appropriate to use main operation when looking at admission details, e.g. time waited, but the figures for "all operations count of episodes" give a more complete count of episodes with an operation.
4. Figures have not been adjusted for shortfalls in data (i.e. the data are ungrossed).
Source:
Hospital Episode Statistics (HES), Department of Health.