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Blood Donors

Mr. Borrow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what disciplinary action has been taken over the statement of the chairman of the National Blood Authority concerning gay men who consider blood donation. [5994]

Yvette Cooper: I apologise to the hon. Member for the delay in responding to this question. I refer the hon. Member to the reply that my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State gave my hon. Friend the Member for Blackpool, North and Fleetwood (Mrs. Humble) on 5 March 2002, Official Report, column 192W.

My noble Friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health, Lord Hunt of Kingsheath met the chairman of the National Blood Authority on 24 April. The chairman sent a letter of apology to the Pink Paper which was published on 3 May.

Nursing Homes

Mr. Boris Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many nursing and residential care (a) homes and (b) beds have closed in Oxfordshire in each year since 1997. [6099]

Jacqui Smith: I apologise to the hon. Member for the delay in responding to this question. I refer the hon. Member to the reply that my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State gave my hon. Friend the Member for Blackpool, North and Fleetwood (Mrs. Humble) on 5 March 2002, Official Report, column 192W.

The number of residential and nursing care establishment closures in 1999 and 2000, together with number of new registrations, are presented in the table. Information is not available centrally on the number of beds associated with closures or new registrations.

Number of care home establishment closures and new home registrations in Oxfordshire, year ending 31 March

	Residential(66)	Nursing(67)
	Number of establishment closures
1999	13	n/a
2000	16	1
	Number of new registrations
1999	8	n/a
2000	17	7

n/a = not available

⁽⁶⁶⁾ Oxfordshire county council

⁽⁶⁷⁾ Oxfordshire health authorities

Source:

Registration and Inspection Survey

Bob Russell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many nursing and residential care (a) homes and (b) beds have closed in Essex in each year since 1997. [6332]

Jacqui Smith: I apologise to the hon. Member for the delay in responding to this question. I refer the hon. Member to the reply that my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State gave my hon. Friend the Member for Blackpool, North and Fleetwood (Mrs. Humble) on 5 March 2002, Official Report, column 192W.

The number of residential and nursing care establishment closures in 1999 and 2000, together with the number of new registrations, are presented in the table.

11 Mar 2002 : Column 826W

Information is not available centrally on the number of beds associated with closures or new registrations. Information is not available for the years ending 31 March 1997 and 1998 as the registration and inspection survey was first collected in its current format for the year ending 31 March 1999.

Number of care home establishment closures and new home registrations in Essex, year ending 31 March

	Residential(68)	Nursing(69)
	Number of establishment closures
1999	n/a	1
2000	33	17
	Number of new registrations
1999	n/a	11
2000	58	11

n/a = not available

⁽⁶⁸⁾ Essex county council and Southend and Thurrock councils

⁽⁶⁹⁾ North Essex and South Essex health authorities

Source:

Registration and Inspection Survey

Hospital Waiting Times

Virginia Bottomley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health which health authority population includes the highest proportion of patients waiting over a year for in-patient treatment. [6475]

Mr. Hutton: I apologise to the hon. Member for the delay in responding to this question. I refer the hon. Member to the reply that my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State gave my hon. Friend the Member for Blackpool, North and Fleetwood (Mrs. Humble) on 5 March 2002, Official Report, column 192W.

East Kent health authority has the highest proportion of patients waiting over a year for inpatient treatment. At the end of January 2002 there were 14.3 patients waiting over 12 months for in-patient treatment per 10,000 population.

The Department is monitoring its progress closely and is working to improve this performance.

Brian Cotter: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the (a) national average waiting time and (b) Avon health authority waiting time was for glaucoma and cataract operations in the last 12 months. [10070]

Mr. Hutton: I apologise to the hon. Member for the delay in responding to this question. I refer the hon. Member to the reply that my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State gave my hon. Friend the Member for Blackpool, North and Fleetwood (Mrs. Humble) on 5 March 2002, Official Report, column 192W.

The median average waiting time for glaucoma and cataract operations are given in the following table.

Glaucoma and cataract operations. Median waiting times (in days)

Area of residence	Median waiting time
Avon health authority	109
All areas	159

Notes:

Waiting time statistics from HES are not the same as the published waiting list statistics. HES provides counts and waiting times for all patients admitted to hospital within a given period whereas the published waiting list statistics count those waiting for treatment at a given point in time and how long they have been on the waiting list. Also, HES calculates the waiting time 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.

A finished consultant episode is defined as a period of patient care under one consultant in one health care provider. The figures do not represent the number of patients, as one person may have several episodes within the year.

Figures in this table have not yet been adjusted for shortfalls in data.

Source:

Hospital Episode Statistics (HES), Department of Health

11 Mar 2002 : Column 827W

Mr. Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will give figures for (a) in-patient waiting lists and (b) in-patient waiting times for each financial year between April 1971 and March 1976. [10821]

Mr. Hutton [holding answer 31 October 2001]: I apologise to the hon. Member for the delay in responding to this question. I refer the hon. Member to the reply that my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State gave my hon. Friend the Member for Blackpool, North and Fleetwood (Mrs. Humble) on 5 March 2002, Official Report, column 192W.

The information on waiting lists is shown in the table. The data given refer to waiting lists rather than waiting times, as information on waiting times of patients on the list between 1971 and 1976 is not available.

Size of in-patient waiting listJune 1971 to March 1976

	Number of patients
June 1971	519,322
December 1971	493,731
June 1972	496,569
December 1972	479,199
June 1973	542,074
December 1973	508,617
June 1974	508,390
December 1974	517,424
June 1975	532,613
December 1975	588,483
March 1976	583,851

Notes:

Figures relate to ordinary admissions only, as number of people waiting for day cases were not collected until 1987.

Source:

Department of health waiting times returns

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many patients requiring knee replacement operations have been waiting for (a) less than 12 months, (b) one to two years and (c) more than two years. [11786]

Mr. Hutton [holding answer 1 November 2001]: I apologise to the hon. Member for the delay in responding to this question. I refer the hon. Member to the reply that my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State gave my hon. Friend the Member for Blackpool, North and Fleetwood (Mrs. Humble) on 5 March 2002 Official Report, column 192W.

The number of patients waiting for trauma and orthopaedics, the specialty that includes knee replacements, at end June 2001 are shown in the table.

As part of the National Health Service Plan, the maximum waiting time for inpatient treatment will be cut from 18 months now to six months by the end of 2005.

11 Mar 2002 : Column 828W

As a first step towards this reduction, the maximum wait for a NHS operation will be cut to 15 months by the end of March 2002.

Patients waiting for elective trauma and orthopaedics admissionsQuarter ended 31 December 2001 NHS trust based

	Patients waiting
Total	258,776
Less than 12 months	245,570
12–24 months	13,206
Over 24 months	0

Source:

Department of health form KH07

Dr. Murrison: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the average accident and emergency department waiting times were (a) at the Royal United hospital, Bath, (b) in the UK and (c) in each region in the last 12 months; and if he will make a statement. [12857]

Ms Blears: I apologise to the hon. Member for the delay in responding to this question. I refer the hon. Member to the reply that my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State gave my hon. Friend the Member for Blackpool, North and Fleetwood (Mrs. Humble) on 5 March 2002, Official Report, column 192W.

The Government do not collect statistics on average waiting times in accident and emergency (A&E) departments centrally.

The Government are committed to reducing waiting times in A&E and the NHS Plan includes the target that by March 2004 no patient will wait more than four hours in A&E from arrival to admission, transfer or discharge. The NHS is currently on track to reach this target with 77 per cent. of attenders spending four hours or less in A&E.

Mr. Burns: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people were waiting (a) over six months, (b) over nine months, (c) over 12 months, (d) over 15 months and (e) over 18 months for in-patient treatment in the mid-Essex hospital trust area for (i) the latest available month and (ii) the previous month. [41921]

Ms Blears: The information requested is shown in the table.

Inpatient data for mid-Essex hospital services NHS trust

	November 2001	December 2001
	Of those waiting, number who have waited:
More than six months	2,426	2,605
More than nine months	1,232	1,209
More than 12 months	452	370
More than 15 months	61	58
More than 18 months	0	0
Total number waiting	8,787	9,228

Source:

KH07 quarterly return/monthly waiting times returns

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