To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many hip replacement operations were performed in 1989; and if he will estimate the average time spent on the waiting list for such an operation.

Health authorities in England reported 45,000 hip replacement operations in 1988–89. In 1985, the latest year for which information is available centrally, the estimated median interval between the time an in-patient was placed on the waiting list and admission to an NHS hospital for this operation was 21 weeks.