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Waiting Lists
Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans he has to review the way his Department compiles tables for hospital waiting list numbers and times. [19300]
Mr. Hutton [holding answer 29 November 2001]: The NHS Plan set out our objectives for reducing in-patient and out-patient waiting times by 2005. Information to monitor progress will continue to be collected and published by the Government Statistical Service.
Dr. Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) how many and what proportion of patients in each health authority on in-patient waiting lists have been waiting for over 15 months; [20863]
- (2) how many and what proportion of patients in each health authority on in-patient waiting lists have been waiting for over six months. [20859]
Mr. Hutton: The information requested is in the table.
The NHS Plan Implementation Programme set out targets relating to in-patients, to implement a maximum waiting time of 15 months by March 2002. In addition, the NHS plan set a target to reduce the maximum wait for in-patient treatment to six months by the end of 2005.
Source:
Department of Health form QF01
13 Dec 2001 : Column: 979W
13 Dec 2001 : Column: 981W
Departmental Expenditure Limits
Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what proportion of the increase in the departmental expenditure limit from 2001–02 to 2002–03 will be accounted for by wage costs. [20604]
Mr. Hutton: The planned expenditure for the national health service in 2001–02 is £48,832 million. The corresponding figure for 2002–03 is £53,478 million—an increase of 9.5 per cent. in cash terms.
Pay increases for NHS staff for 2002–03, including those subject to the recommendations of pay review bodies, have yet to be agreed.
Blood Products
Mr. Cousins: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether products are derived from blood donations from outside (a) the United Kingdom and (b) western Europe. [20295]
Mr. Hutton [holding answer 6 December 2001]: No plasma from United Kingdom donors is used in the manufacture of fractionated blood products. All blood products manufactured by the national health service- owned Bio Products Laboratory are made from plasma sourced in the United States of America. Some commercially manufactured blood products used by the NHS are derived from blood donations collected in western Europe. However, all licensed blood products must comply with European Committee for Proprietary Medicinal Products requirements on selection and testing of blood donors.
Mr. Cousins: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many deaths have occurred as a result of the supply of contaminated blood products to haemophiliacs in the past 10 years; and how many of these deaths were from (a) AIDS alone, (b) hepatitis C alone and (c) from co-infection. [20294]
Mr. Hutton [holding answer 5 December 2001]: All haemophilia patients registered with the Macfarlane Trust are co-infected with HIV and hepatitis C. 588 of these have died in the past 10 years.
Information from the United Kingdom Haemophilia Centre Doctor's Organisation shows that since 1969, 212 people with haemophilia have died from liver disease which may be related to hepatitis C infection (figures for the last 10 years are not available).
Patient Numbers
Mr. Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many (a) in-patients and (b) out-patients have been treated by the NHS for each six month reporting period since 1990; and if he will make a statement. [18883]
Mr. Hutton [holding answer 5 December 2001]: The number of admissions to national health service trusts since 1990–91 is given in the table. This does not represent the number of patients as a person may be admitted on more than one occasion.
13 Dec 2001 : Column: 982W
| Year | April to September | October to March | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1990–91 | 4,245,512 | 3,942,575 | 8,188,087 |
| 1991–92 | 4,364,105 | 4,360,223 | 8,724,328 |
| 1992–93 | 4,570,565 | 4,508,298 | 9,078,863 |
| 1993–94 | 4,730,660 | 4,761,992 | 9,492,652 |
| 1994–95 | 4,909,917 | 4,947,403 | 9,857,320 |
| 1995–96 | 5,102,088 | 5,144,912 | 10,247,000 |
| 1996–97 | 5,152,980 | 5,037,709 | 10,190,689 |
| 1997–98 | 5,363,519 | 5,174,016 | 10,537,535 |
| 1998–99 | 5,248,399 | 5,460,573 | 10,708,972 |
| 1999–2000 | 5,521,349 | 5,504,595 | 11,025,944 |
| 2000–01 | 5,540,970 | 5,460,125 | 11,001,095 |
The following table shows the number of people seen as out-patients and the total attendance in out-patients—as some people will attend more than once—since 1990–91. It is not possible to provide a six monthly breakdown as data on all out-patient episodes are only collected annually.
| Year | Number of out-patients | Number of out-patient episodes |
|---|---|---|
| 1990–91 | 8,501,760 | 36,111,504 |
| 1991–92 | 8,941,526 | 36,893,710 |
| 1992–93 | 9,342,280 | 37,527,038 |
| 1993–94 | 9,680,593 | 38,202,391 |
| 1994–95 | 10,362,877 | 39,305,800 |
| 1995–96 | 10,989,334 | 40,117,691 |
| 1996–97 | 11,294069 | 40,872,769 |
| 1997–98 | 11,529,432 | 41,635,269 |
| 1998–99 | 11,777,780 | 42,154,397 |
| 1999–2000 | 12,136,405 | 43,040,699 |
| 2000–01 | 12,466,233 | 43,569,340 |
These figures show a significant increase in the number of admissions to hospitals and the number of people seen as out-patients since 1990–91.
The NHS Plan commitment is that by 2005 the maximum waiting time for in-patient treatment will be cut from 18 months now to six months, the maximum waiting time for a routine out-patient appointment will be halved from over six months now to three months and traditional waiting lists will be replaced with booking systems. By the end of 2008 we aim to treat all out-patients and in-patients within three months, subject to recruitment and reform.
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