Ormskirk General Hospital And Wigan Infirmary

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what is the average length of time that people who live in the Ince constituency have to wait to receive treatment in the various specialties available at the Ormskirk General Hospital and Wigan Infirmary, respectively; and if she will give, in each case, details for in-patients and out-patients in each specialty, and a comparison between these figures and the area regional and national averages.

, pursuant to his reply [Official Report, 20th December 1974, Vol. 883, c. 733], circulated the following information:Table I relates to in-patients discharged during November 1974 and Table II to out-patient appointments given to patients referred on the dates shown. Waiting times for admission vary according to the circumstances of each case and urgent cases are admitted without delay, so that averages are misleading.Figures corresponding to those in Table I are not available either for the region or nationally. The Report on the Hospital In-Patient Enquiry for the year 1972, the latest year for which statistics have been published, provides in Table II of the preliminary tables the waiting times for various diagnostic groups of patients admitted from waiting lists in England and Wales. xc I am sending my hon. Friend a copy of the table which is based on a sample inquiry.

TABLE I
Numbers of patients discharged in November 1974, by specialty, and waiting time prior to admission from waiting lists:
						Wigan Infirmary
						Under 3 months	3–6 months	6–12 months	1–2 years	Over 2 years
General Medicine		…	…	…	…
Paediatrics	…	…	…	…	…
Chest Diseases	…	…	…	…	…	—	—	—	—	—
Geriatrics	…	…	…	…	…	—	—	—	—	—
General Surgery		…	…	…	…	192	152	171	123
Traumatic and Orthopaedic			…	…	…	69	13	13	14
Ophthalmology	…	…	…	…	…	107	77	63
Plastic Surgery	…	…	…	…	…	47	12	4
Dental Surgery	…	…	…	…	…	47	38	56	23
Gynaecology	…	…	…	…	…	85	57	101	153	73
Mental Illness	…	…	…	…	…	—	—	—	—	—
Ear, Nose and Throat		…	…	…	…	240	185	298	88
						Wigan Area
						Under 3 months	3–6 months	6–12 months	1–2 years	Over 2 years
General Medicine		…	…	…	…
Paediatrics	…	…	…	…	…
Chest Diseases	…	…	…	…	…	Not applicable
Geriatrics	…	…	…	…	…	Not applicable
General Surgery		…	…	…	…	327	235	245	135	1
Traumatic and Orthopaedic			…	…	…	89	13	13	14
Ophthalmology	…	…	…	…	…	107	77	63
Plastic Surgery	…	…	…	…	…	47	12	4
Dental Surgery	…	…	…	…	…	47	38	56	23
Gynaecology	…	…	…	…	…	150	102	147	192	80
Mental Illness	…	…	…	…	…	Not applicable
Ear, Nose and Throat		…	…	…	…	367	328	415	190	22
						Ormskirk General Hospital
						Under 3 months	3–6 months	6–12 months	1–2 years	Over 2 years
General Medicine		…	…	…	…
Paediatrics	…	…	…	…	…
Chest Diseases	…	…	…	…	…
Geriatrics	…	…	…	…	…	16
General Surgery		…	…	…	…	58	20	27	12	3
Traumatic and Orthopaedic			…	…	…	49	8	4
Ophthalmology	…	…	…	…	…
Plastic Surgery	…	…	…	…	…	—	—	—	—	—
Dental Surgery	…	…	…	…	…
Gynaecology	…	…	…	…	…	25	11
Mental Illness	…	…	…	…	…
Ear, Nose and Throat		…	…	…	…	28	23	28	46	2
						Lancashire Area (excluding Preston)
						Under 3 months	3–6 months	6–12 months	1–2 years	Over 2 years
General Medicine		…	…	…	…	14
Paediatrics	…	…	…	…	…	24			1	8
Chest Diseases	…	…	…	…	…
Geriatrics	…	…	…	…	…	118
General Surgery		…	…	…	…	1,234	397	404	419	293
Traumatic and Orthopaedic			…	…	…	820	456	693	836	445
Ophthalmology	…	…	…	…	…	188	87	84	73	34
Plastic Surgery	…	…	…	…	…	Not Applicable
Dental Surgery	…	…	…	…	…	134	40	75	42	19
Gynaecology	…	…	…	…	…	731	128	54	28	44
Mental Illness	…	…	…	…	…	20			5	1
Ear, Nose and Throat		…	…	…	…	Not Available
Notes:
1. Blanks in columns of figures denote no waiting time.
2. The symbol "—" denotes specialty not provided in the hospital.
3. The figures include patients from outside Ince constituency but within the hospital catchment areas.

I regret that national averages for out-patient waiting times corresponding to those in Table II are not available

TABLE II
Non-urgent out-patient appointments waiting time in days as at 31st October 1974 (Wigan) and 30th November 1974 (Ormskirk) between referrals by general practitioners and first out-patient appointments.
Specialty						Wigan Infirmary	Wigan Area	Ormskirk District General Hospital	Lancs. Area	Northwestern Region
General Medicine		…	…	…	…	84	63	35	11	14
Paediatrics	…	…	…	…	…	14	14	56	2	14
Diseases of the Chest		…	…	…	…	—	42	14	6	14
Dermatology	…	…	…	…	…	42	35	—	6	20
Rheumatology	…	…	…	…	…	28	N/A	—	28	40
Geriatrics	…	…	…	…	…	28	N/A	—	7	10
General Surgery		…	…	…	…	49	42	28	5	20
Ear, Nose and Throat		…	…	…	…	42	49	119	4	25
Orthopaedics	…	…	…	…	…	70	70	49	21	60
Ophthalmics	…	…	…	…	…	56	7	56	10	20
Radiotherapy	…	…	…	…	…	7	N/A	—	6	4
Plastic Surgery	…	…	…	…	…	14	42	—	14	24
Thoracic Surgery		…	…	…	…	7	N/A	—	7	6
Dental Surgery	…	…	…	…	…	270	7	28	5	20
Neurosurgery	…	…	…	…	…	7	N/A	—	14	25
Gynaecology	…	…	…	…	…	56	35	28	6	20
Psychiatry—children		…	…	…	…	7	7	7	42	14
Mental Illness	…	…	…	…	…	14	N/A	70	7	12
Note:
1. "N/A" means information is not available.
2. The symbol "—" denotes the specialty is not provided at the hospital.

Volume 886: debated on Wednesday 19 February 1975