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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]

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.

Patients waiting for elective admission, England, position at 30 September 2001

Over 6 month waiters Over 15 month waiters
Health authorityTotal waitingNumberPercentageNumberPercentage
Avon21,4926,93432.34001.9
Barking and Havering10,8043,38031.31581.5
Barnet, Enfield and Haringey15,0764,80731.92361.6
Barnsley4,24364115.110.0
Bedfordshire10,3043,22131.32952.9
Berkshire14,4953,86426.71260.9
Birmingham15,1972,75218.1550.4
Bradford10,0012,20522.030.0
Brent and Harrow8,2242,43929.61411.7
Bromley, Bexley and Greenwich13,8174,55833.02171.6
Buckinghamshire13,2213,74328.32091.6
Bury and Rochdale9,5232,26123.7720.8
Calderdale and Kirklees10,5641,61715.3200.2
Cambridgeshire14,6163,68925.21601.1
Camden and Islington6,0831,31721.7310.5
Cornwall and Isles of Scilly12,0043,81431.8930.8
County Durham and Darlington11,5082,63122.900.0
Coventry4,8071,00020.8150.3
Croydon6,5612,08931.82003.0
Doncaster4,11156113.610.0
Dorset8,736640.710.0
Dudley4,79283617.4200.4
Ealing, Hammersmith and Hounslow13,7343,45325.11351.0
East Kent16,4145,46233.32391.5
East Lancashire12,4413,12525.1260.2
East London and City11,3882,81824.7900.8
East Riding and Hull11,6373,51830.200.0
East Surrey8,5272,99635.12162.5
East Sussex, Brighton and Hove17,8936,08134.03732.1
Gateshead and South Tyneside7,6711,54020.110.0
Gloucestershire8,2051,49618.2480.6
Herefordshire2,79282429.5160.6
Hertfordshire21,5136,28429.23421.6
Hillingdon4,1671,10026.4721.7
Isle of Wight, Portsmouth and South East Hampshire14,8764,10627.62021.4
Kensington, Chelsea and Westminster4,47786319.3170.4
Kingston and Richmond7,1222,02028.41261.8
Lambeth, Southwark and Lewisham15,9145,12032.24062.6
Leeds13,6753,82528.0690.5
Leicestershire16,0563,37821.0500.3
Lincolnshire15,7174,03825.71320.8
Liverpool10,5962,58024.3860.8
Manchester12,1893,13725.72261.9
Merton, Sutton and Wandsworth10,0842,67426.51551.5
Morecambe Bay6,7891,78326.3190.3
Newcastle and North Tyneside6,9451,42220.540.1
Norfolk18,4934,83226.13061.7
North and East Devon10,9913,27729.81271.2
North and Mid Hampshire10,5082,71525.81341.3
North Cheshire8,7472,89433.11471.7
North Cumbria7,4972,06027.5130.2
North Derbyshire8,2022,10125.620.0
North Essex20,8726,46631.02211.1
North Nottinghamshire7,9761,96324.6130.2
North Staffordshire6,4731,37321.2100.2
North West Lancashire11,3502,29620.2310.3
North Yorkshire13,7953,40624.7140.1
Northamptonshire13,7283,91628.51200.9
Northumberland5,1771,04620.200.0
Nottingham11,3652,56422.6500.4
Oxfordshire10,9422,98227.3740.7
Redbridge and Waltham Forest10,3493,66635.42312.2
Rotherham3,81953514.010.0
Salford and Trafford12,8283,71228.92501.9
Sandwell4,60155912.190.2
Sefton7,4301,85024.9570.8
Sheffield11,2873,02026.850.0
Shropshire7,0121,58622.6400.6
Solihull3,48782323.680.2
Somerset11,6233,06526.4800.7
South and West Devon13,7714,32231.41280.9
South Cheshire14,1484,22229.81581.1
South Essex17,5465,16129.4830.5
South Humber7,8482,08026.520.0
South Lancashire7,9362,00325.2400.5
South Staffordshire12,6673,36926.6690.5
Southampton and South West Hampshire13,5643,62826.72471.8
Southern Derbyshire12,4702,95123.7480.4
St. Helens and Knowsley9,5141,97220.7570.6
Stockport7,2492,10629.1350.5
Suffolk15,2554,77631.31471.0
Sunderland6,0951,35222.200.0
Tees10,9522,72124.800.0
Wakefield6,7211,81327.050.1
Walsall2,74138514.040.1
Warwickshire10,3452,24921.790.1
West Kent24,2367,88232.52341.0
West Pennine11,6632,29519.7570.5
West Surrey14,6445,56238.05343.6
West Sussex18,7146,92837.05002.7
Wigan and Bolton13,5403,35024.71160.9
Wiltshire12,3973,67829.71931.6
Wirral5,6021,24022.1470.8
Wolverhampton3,73074219.930.1
Worcestershire9,5172,63527.71091.1

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

Admissions to NHS hospitals 1990–91 to 2000–01

YearApril to SeptemberOctober to MarchTotal
1990–914,245,5123,942,5758,188,087
1991–924,364,1054,360,2238,724,328
1992–934,570,5654,508,2989,078,863
1993–944,730,6604,761,9929,492,652
1994–954,909,9174,947,4039,857,320
1995–965,102,0885,144,91210,247,000
1996–975,152,9805,037,70910,190,689
1997–985,363,5195,174,01610,537,535
1998–995,248,3995,460,57310,708,972
1999–20005,521,3495,504,59511,025,944
2000–015,540,9705,460,12511,001,095

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.

Out-patient attendance at NHS hospitals 1990–91 to 2000–01

Year Number of out-patientsNumber of out-patient episodes
1990–918,501,76036,111,504
1991–928,941,52636,893,710
1992–939,342,28037,527,038
1993–949,680,59338,202,391
1994–9510,362,87739,305,800
1995–9610,989,33440,117,691
1996–9711,29406940,872,769
1997–9811,529,43241,635,269
1998–9911,777,78042,154,397
1999–200012,136,40543,040,699
2000–0112,466,23343,569,340

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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