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26 Apr 2007 : Column 1268W—continued


Hearing Aids: Waiting Lists

Dr. Alasdair McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the (a) target and (b) actual average waiting time is for people requiring a new digital hearing aid from the point of referral from GP to final fitting of the hearing aid in England. [132238]

Mr. Ivan Lewis: The most complex audiology cases will be covered by the target of treatment within
26 Apr 2007 : Column 1269W
18 weeks of referral by December 2008, and the remaining routine adult hearing loss cases should be assessed within six weeks by March 2008, in line with the diagnostic waiting time milestone on which local commissioning plans are based. It is also good practice for the subsequent hearing aid fitting to be carried out soon after or at the same time as assessment.

The information on actual average waiting time for people requiring a new digital hearing aid from the point of referral to general practitioner for final fitting is not held centrally. However, the median wait for audiology assessments is 23 weeks.

The national audiology framework “Improving Access to Audiology Services in England”, was published on 6 March 2007, and copies are available in the Library. It sets out clear guidance to the national health service on how to reduce waiting times and how to provide the additional 300,000 pathways that are needed in the run-up to December 2008 to make a maximum wait of 18 weeks from referral to treatment possible for all audiology referrals. It aims to mitigate the risk to 18-week delivery and create a sustainable service model for audiology for the long term.

Hospices: Finance

Mr. Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much funding her Department provided to (a) children’s and (b) adults’ hospices in each of the last five years for which figures are available; how much she expects to be spent in future years; and if she will make a statement. [133382]

Mr. Ivan Lewis: This information is not available centrally. The level of funding a hospice receives is a matter for local negotiation between the local primary care trust, who are responsible for commissioning and funding palliative care services locally, and the hospice.

The Government have delivered on their commitment to make an additional £50 million per annum available for specialist palliative care for adults. The money is now recurrent in PCT baseline allocations. In April 2007, we announced the allocation of £40 million capital funds for adults’ hospices to improve their physical environments.

In September 2006, a fund of up to £10 million was also announced to support Marie Curie Cancer Care’s major capital modernisation programme of hospices in North London and Birmingham. The business case has been approved, although the final details have yet to be agreed.

Voluntary sector children’s hospices are receiving funding of £27 million between 2006-07 and 2008-09. They have already been given the first tranche of £9 million in 2006-07.

Hospitals: Leeds

Greg Mulholland: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what criteria were used to reach the recent decision to postpone the building of a children’s and maternity hospital in Leeds; and whether she was directly consulted during the process leading up to the decision. [134037]


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Mr. Ivan Lewis: The national health service in Leeds is committed to providing the highest-quality services, including children’s and maternity services, for the people it serves.

No decision has been made on any part of the Making Leeds Better proposals. The entire health community remains committed to finding a workable solution to improve children’s and maternity services in Leeds.

Yorkshire and the Humber strategic health authority (SHA) has asked Leeds primary care trust (PCT) to review concerns about affordability and to examine all the options available for children’s and maternity services in Leeds. The PCT will present a full project plan to the SHA at the end of April.

Hospitals: Waiting Lists

Mr. Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 23 March 2007, Official Report, column 1194W, on hospital waiting lists, what assessment she has made of the statistical significance of the moderate correlation between the secondary sector clinical targets and service initial positions in 2003-04 and the age-needs index. [131877]

Andy Burnham: The distance between several secondary sector service targets and the service initial positions in March 2003-04 is moderately correlated to the age/needs index: the primary care trust health economies with low age/needs had modestly further to travel to achieve the targets. However, numerous parts of the country with low age/needs did not have far to travel in meeting these targets. The correlation is not a perfect one (with correlation co-efficients ranging from -0.28 in the case of distance to the accident and emergency four hour wait and age/needs to -0.13 in the case of distance to the out-patient booking targets and age/needs). The reasons behind the relationship are complex.

Secondary sector under-performance in low age/needs areas is likely to have existed for some time prior to March 2003-04. By raising the quality of care to uniform national standards, the Government have significantly improved the services provided to patients in these areas.

The age and need indices, and the interactions between them, are currently being reviewed by independent academic researchers under the auspices of the Advisory Committee on Resource Allocation. A new age and need adjustment for weighted capitation may emerge from this research for resource allocation in 2008-09.

Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the average waiting time was for (a) in-patient, (b) day case and (c) out-patient appointments at each hospital in London in (i) 1992, (ii) 1997, (iii) 2001, (iv) 2005 and (v) the most recent year for which figures are available. [132331]

Andy Burnham: The information requested can be found in the following table.


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Table 1: Provider based median waiting time information, London NHS Trusts
Median waiting time (weeks) month end
March 1992 March 1997
Organisation code Organisation In-patient admission ordinary In-patient admission daycase Out-patient appointment In-patient admission ordinary In-patient admission daycase Out-patient appointment

RA1

Epsom Healthcare NHS Trust

8.4

7.8

n/a

16.6

10.7

3.3

RAK

Royal London Hospital and Associated Community Services NHS Trust

12.3

8.5

n/a

n/a

n/a

n/a

RAX

Kingston Hospital NHS Trust

14.2

10.4

n/a

20.6

12.3

4.6

RAZ

St. Helier NHS Trust

15.3

10.8

n/a

17.2

9.6

3.6

RAV

The Guy’s and Lewisham NHS Trust

15.3

10.9

n/a

n/a

n/a

n/a

RAP

North Middlesex Hospital NHS Trust

15.6

9.9

n/a

25.0

11.8

7.5

RAL

Royal Free Hampstead NHS Trust

17.5

16.1

n/a

15.2

9.8

5.8

RAN

Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital NHS Trust London)

18.2

12.6

n/a

11.6

9.2

12.3

RAU

Central Middlesex Hospital NHS Trust

23.6

8.3

n/a

17.8

9.1

6.7

RAR

Mount Vernon Hospital NHS Trust

25.2

23.7

n/a

n/a

n/a

n/a

RAS

Hillingdon Hospital NHS Trust

25.2

8.6

n/a

19.4

9.4

7.2

RC3

Ealing Hospital NHS Trust

n/a

n/a

n/a

19.6

11.8

6.1

RF4

Barking, Havering and Redbridge Hospitals NHS Trust

n/a

n/a

n/a

n/a

n/a

n/a

RFW

West Middlesex University Hospital NHS Trust

n/a

n/a

n/a

21.2

11.5

7.3

RG2

Queen Elizabeth Hospital NHS Trust

n/a

n/a

n/a

16.4

9.7

5.9

RG3

Bromley Hospitals NHS Trust

n/a

n/a

n/a

19.6

13.3

8.1

RGC

Whipps Cross University Hospital NHS Trust

n/a

n/a

n/a

n/a

n/a

n/a

RGZ

Queen Mary’s Sidcup NHS Trust

n/a

n/a

n/a

22.5

10.9

8.4

R31

Guy’s and St. Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust

n/a

n/a

n/a

19.3

15.7

7.2

R32

Lewisham Hospital NHS Trust

n/a

n/a

n/a

13.6

11.7

6.9

RJ5

St. Mary’s NHS Trust

n/a

n/a

n/a

19.5

10.6

6.9

R36

Mayday Healthcare NHS Trust

n/a

n/a

n/a

23.9

12.5

4.2

RJ7

St. George’s Healthcare NHS Trust

n/a

n/a

n/a

16.3

10.2

5.0

RJZ

King’s College Hospital NHS Trust

n/a

n/a

n/a

19.4

20.4

5.9

RKE

Whittington Hospital NHS Trust

n/a

n/a

n/a

19.9

9.2

5.0

RKL

West London Mental Health NHS Trust

n/a

n/a

n/a

n/a

n/a

n/a

RNH

Newham Healthcare NHS Trust

n/a

n/a

n/a

13.1

8.9

7.1

RNJ

Barts and the London NHS Trust

n/a

n/a

n/a

17.5

10.4

7.5

RNK

Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust

n/a

n/a

n/a

n/a

n/a

9.1

RP4

Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children NHS Trust

n/a

n/a

n/a

11.0

9.0

4.8

RP6

Moorfields Eye Hospital NHS Foundation Trust

n/a

n/a

n/a

13.2

12.5

8.5

RPY

Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust

n/a

n/a

n/a

n/a

n/a

2.6

ROM

Chelsea and Westminster Hospital NHS Foundation Trust

n/a

n/a

n/a

9.8

8.5

3.8

RON

Hammersmith Hospitals NHS Trust

n/a

n/a

n/a

23.9

21.9

4.5

ROX

Homerton University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust

n/a

n/a

n/a

9.4

8.1

4.5

ROY

SW London and St. George’s NHS Trust

n/a

n/a

n/a

n/a

n/a

3.2

RRV

University College London NHS Foundation Trust

n/a

n/a

n/a

14.5

11.3

5.1

RT3

Royal Brompton and Harefield NHS Trust

n/a

n/a

n/a

n/a

n/a

n/a

RV3

Central and North West London Mental Health NHS Trust

n/a

n/a

n/a

n/a

n/a

n/a

RV8

North West London Hospitals NHS Trust

n/a

n/a

n/a

n/a

n/a

n/a

RVL

Barnet and Chase Farm Hospitals NHS Trust

n/a

n/a

n/a

n/a

n/a

n/a

RVR

Epsom and St. Helier NHS Trust

n/a

n/a

n/a

n/a

n/a

n/a

RWK

East London and The City Mental Health NHS Trust

n/a

n/a

n/a

n/a

n/a

n/a

RC5

Harefield Hospital NHS Trust

n/a

n/a

n/a

10.1

10.4

3.9

RDC

Wellhouse NHS Trust

n/a

n/a

n/a

21.2

11.3

6.5

RDF

Forest Healthcare NHS Trust

n/a

n/a

n/a

22.5

17.5

9.3

RFZ

Northwick Park and St. Mark’s NHS Trust

n/a

n/a

n/a

17.5

11.6

6.8

RG4

Redbridge Health Care NHS Trust

n/a

n/a

n/a

22.5

20.1

3.9

RG7

Havering Hospitals NHS Trust

n/a

n/a

n/a

15.8

10.4

7.6

RG9

Chase Farm Hospitals NHS Trust

n/a

n/a

n/a

21.9

16.8

7.0

RHG

Richmond Twickenham and Roehampton Healthcare NHS Trust

n/a

n/a

n/a

21.2

10.7

3.2

RPX

Royal Brompton Hospital NHS Trust

n/a

n/a

n/a

13.6

14.2

2.0

R09

Bethlem and Maudsley NHS Trust

n/a

n/a

n/a

13.8

n/a

3.7

RV5

South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust

n/a

n/a

n/a

n/a

n/a

n/a


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