To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many accident and emergency departments performed better than average for waiting times during the monitoring week at the end of March 2003 compared to the previous 51 weeks; and which they were. [116454]

The NHS Plan set the target to reduce by the end of 2004, the maximum time any patient spends in accident and emergency (A&E) from arrival to transfer, discharge or admission to four hours. A national interim milestone was set for 90 per cent. of patients to spend less than four hours in A&E by week ending 30 March 2003.Provisional management information suggests that over two thirds of trusts were performing better by week ending 30 March than their average for the whole year. This would be expected due to the gradual improvement needed nationally to achieve the 90 per cent, milestone from the figure of 77 per cent., achieved in March 2002.Final information detailing performance of individual trusts at the end of March will be made available as part of the performance ratings later in the summer.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people waited over 12 months for an operation in Hull and the East Riding in the last quarter for which figures are available; and what the figures were for the preceding four quarters. [116734]

The information requested is shown in the following table.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many patients admitted to accident and emergency departments in Hull and East Yorkshire waited longer than 12 hours prior to admission, transfer or discharge, in the last quarter for which figures are available; and how many there were in the preceding four quarters. [116764]

I refer the right hon. Member to the reply I gave him on 25 March 2003, Official Report, column 187W.