To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on the length of time that patients have to wait for radiotherapy at (a) Newcastle general hospital and (b) other parts of the United Kingdom; and if he will outline the steps he intends to take to improve the position for patients who urgently need treatment in the area served by this hospital.

Information on waiting times for individual hospitals is not held centrally. Information for regional health authorities can be obtained from the "Hospital In-patient Waiting Lists England at 31 March 1991", a copy of which is available in the Library.