To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will publish a table showing the average time that patients wait for the results of cervical smear tests in (a) Britain, (b) Scotland and (c) each of the health board areas; and if he will make a statement.

Figures are not available on a Great Britain basis. The average time taken to report results to patients across Scotland for the latest figures available (January to June 1990) was 30 days.Information for each health board is as follows:

Health Board	Average time in days
Argyll and Clyde	31
Ayr and Arran	21
Borders	21
Dumfries and Galloway	3
Fife	33
Forth Valley	29
Grampian	77
Greater Glasgow	14–7
	228
Highland	32
Lanarkshire	35
Lothian	15
Orkney	3—
Shetland	48
Tayside	14
Western Isles	4—
1 high risk
2 low risk
3 Tests processed by Grampian HB Separate figures not readily available
4 Tests processed by Highland HB

Separate figures not readily availableI regard those averages of more than 14 days as unacceptable and I instructed health boards on 13 December 1990 to achieve this average turnround time for all results by no later than 31 May 1991. Boards have already indicated that they are making progress towards this and the position will be monitored.