§ Lord Jacobsasked Her Majesty's Government:
Further to the Written Answer by the Lord Warner on 28 April (WA 88), how it is possible to calculate whether there is sufficient capacity in future to carry out hip replacements if the Government cannot ascertain how many people are on waiting lists, for how long they have been on the waiting list, and the current monthly demand for hip replacements. [HL2683]
104WA
§ Lord WarnerThe Department of Health and the National Health Service have information on the number of patients waiting for orthopaedic surgery, the length of time patients wait and the number of patients who had hip replacements in previous years. This information is used to help forecast capacity required in future years.
Strategic health authorities are currently developing detailed plans to reduce maximum waiting times in orthopaedics to six months by December 2005, taking into account likely trends in demand. These plans will be in place by June.