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Waiting Lists

Mr. Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will rank health authorities in England in order of the highest waiting times for hospital operations, using as the measures (a) those waiting over six months for inpatient treatments and (b) those waiting over 12 months for inpatient treatments. [3052]

Mr. Hutton [holding answer 11 July 2001]: Patients awaiting operations are not identifiable separately. The table shows, for all patients awaiting admission to hospital, numbers of patients waiting more than six months and more than 12 months in each health authority in England as at 31 May 2001.

As part of the NHS Plan, the National Health Service is working towards reducing the current maximum inpatient wait of 18 months to 15 months by March 2002, 12 months by March 2003, nine months by March 2004 and then ultimately six months by the end of 2005.

Patients waiting more than six months for admission to hospital as on 31 May 2001

Health authority	Number
West Kent	7,796
West Sussex	7,141
Avon	6,603
North Essex	6,537
Hertfordshire	6,167
East Sussex, Brighton and Hove	5,910
Lambeth, Southwark and Lewisham	5,806
West Surrey	5,484
East Kent	5,348
Barnet, Enfield and Haringey	5,101
Bexley, Bromley and Greenwich	4,628
South Essex	4,571
Norfolk	4,481
Suffolk	4,406
Isle of Wight, Portsmouth and South East	4,380
Hampshire	—
Lincolnshire	4,028
Southampton and South West Hampshire	4,019
Cornwall and Isles of Scilly	3,961
South and West Devon	3,929
Leeds	3,908
South Cheshire	3,896
Buckinghamshire	3,808
South Staffordshire	3,792
Redbridge and Waltham Forest	3,758
Berkshire	3,667
Salford and Trafford	3,587
Ealing, Hammersmith and Hounslow	3,579
Northamptonshire	3,507
Wiltshire	3,491
Cambridgeshire	3,472
North and East Devon	3,448
North Yorkshire	3,434
East Riding and Hull	3,400
Barking and Havering	3,191
East London and City	3,171
Leicestershire	3,143
East Surrey	3,102
Wigan and Bolton	3,077
Bedfordshire	3,049
South Derbyshire	2,977
North Cheshire	2,973
East Lancashire	2,962
Somerset	2,954
Manchester	2,947
Oxfordshire	2,901
Merton, Sutton and Wandsworth	2,778
Liverpool	2,702
North and Mid Hampshire	2,689
Worcestershire	2,664
Sheffield	2,496
Nottingham	2,465
Birmingham	2,419
Tees	2,398
Brent and Harrow	2,360
County Durham and Darlington	2,325
Bradford	2,262
Croydon	2,196
West Pennine	2,175
Kingston and Richmond	2,105
South Lancashire	2,019
Warwickshire	2,019
Wakefield	2,005
North West Lancashire	2,003
St. Helens and Knowsley	1,995
North Cumbria	1,976
Bury and Rochdale	1,894
South Humber	1,877
North Derbyshire	1,808
North Nottinghamshire	1,779
Sefton	1,769
Stockport	1,726
Gateshead and South Tyneside	1,690
Shropshire	1,657
Calderdale and Kirklees	1,618
Newcastle and North Tyneside	1,477
Morecambe Bay	1,412
Camden and Islington	1,367
North Staffordshire	1,333
Gloucestershire	1,316
Sunderland	1,256
Hillingdon	1,096
Wirral	983
Northumberland	972
Kensington, Chelsea and Westminster	961
Dudley	875
Coventry	869
Wolverhampton	709
Herefordshire	693
Barnsley	588
Solihull	578
Sandwell	565
Doncaster	507
Rotherham	475
Walsall	399
Dorset	106

12 Jul 2001 : Column: 605W

Patients waiting more than 12 months for admission to hospital as on 31 May 2001

Health authority	Number
West Sussex	1,816
Lambeth, Southwark and Lewisham	1,603
West Kent	1,551
West Surrey	1,522
Avon	1,436
Hertfordshire	1,353
North Essex	1,331
East Sussex, Brighton and Hove	1,160
East Kent	1,122
Isle of Wight, Portsmouth and South East	1,040
Hampshire	—
Barnet, Enfield and Haringey	1,040
Southampton and South West Hampshire	1,011
Norfolk	994
Salford and Trafford	849
Bexley, Bromley and Greenwich	839
Redbridge and Waltham Forest	811
South and West Devon	783
Buckinghamshire	777
East Surrey	754
Wiltshire	745
Ealing, Hammersmith and Hounslow	726
Bedfordshire	725
South Staffordshire	721
North Cheshire	717
Manchester	697
North and East Devon	689
Cornwall and Isles of Scilly	685
Northamptonshire	623
South Cheshire	622
Suffolk	617
Croydon	606
Cambridgeshire	603
Merton, Sutton and Wandsworth	594
Lincolnshire	561
East London and City	536
North and Mid Hampshire	530
Barking and Havering	521
Berkshire	516
Liverpool	504
South Essex	493
Oxfordshire	487
Wigan and Bolton	484
Kingston and Richmond	448
Brent and Harrow	439
Worcestershire	414
Leeds	367
Leicestershire	364
Somerset	357
East Riding and Hull	321
St. Helens and Knowsley	319
Sefton	287
West Pennine	285
Shropshire	280
Camden and Islington	263
South Lancashire	258
Bury and Rochdale	258
Hillingdon	250
Stockport	248
Birmingham	238
North Staffordshire	225
South Derbyshire	212
Nottingham	195
North Cumbria	188
Morecame Bay	183
Wakefield	173
North West Lancashire	171
North Yorkshire	168
East Lancashire	154
Calderdale and Kirklees	148
Gloucestershire	131
Wirral	128
Newcastle and North Tyneside	112
Herefordshire	107
Tees	104
Kensington, Chelsea and Westminster	99
County Durham and Darlington	94
Bradford	88
Dudley	80
Coventry	77
Warwickshire	73
North Nottinghamshire	60
Sheffield	60
Northumberland	56
North Derbyshire	55
Gateshead and South Tyneside	43
Wolverhampton	43
Sunderland	38
South Humber	37
Sandwell	28
Walsall	27
Solihull	21
Barnsley	18
Dorset	12
Doncaster	9
Rotherham	8

Source:

QFO1 quarterly returns

12 Jul 2001 : Column: 606W

NHS Complaints Procedure

Annette Brooke: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to his answer of 5 July 2001, Official Report, column 290W, on NHS complaints procedure, on what date his Department received the report from York Health Economics Consortium. [3562]

Ms Blears: The final report of the national evaluation of the National Health Service complaints procedure by the York Health Economics Consortium and NFO System Three Social Research (formerly Public Attitude Surveys) was received by the Department on 28 February 2001.

12 Jul 2001 : Column: 607W

EDUCATION AND SKILLS

Teacher Vacancies

Mr. Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many teacher vacancies there were on 31 March (a) 2000 and (b) 1999, in each county of England and Wales. [2595]

Mr. Timms [holding answer 9 July 2001]: The available information, showing vacancies at January each year, has been published in table 42 of the DfES publication "Statistics of Education: Teachers, England and Wales, 2000 edition". A copy is held in the House of Commons Library, and is also available on the DfES website at www.dfes.gov.uk/statistics/DB/VOL/v0220/ index.html.

Assessment

Mrs. May: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if she will make a statement on the recent statement by the chief executive of the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority on the current assessment system. [3119]

Mr. Timms [holding answer 9 July 2001]: The chief executive of the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority (QCA) made a wide-ranging speech at the QCA Annual Conference on 26 June in which he made a number of observations about the possible future direction of the assessment system.

QCA conducted a review of statutory assessment (ie at Key Stage 1, 2 and 3) last year at the request of Ministers. This review covered three areas: strengthening and improving the current tests; enhancing the role of ICT in the tests; and improving teachers' own skills in assessment. Ministers welcomed the range and scope of the recommendations which officials in QCA and the Department for Education and Skills are now taking forward.

Head Teachers' Forums

Mrs. May: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what the remit of the new head teachers' forums within local education authorities will be; what guidance her Department has issued to local education authorities on setting up these forums; and if she will make a statement. [3024]

Mr. Timms [holding answer 10 July 2001]: My Department has no plans to establish head teachers' forums.

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