Waiting Lists

To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 20 June 2006, Official Report, column 1818W, on waiting times, in what detail data were collected in 1979; whether her Department has previously attempted to calculate the (a) mean and (b) median waiting time in 1979; and what the (i) mean and (ii) median waiting time was in each year for which figures are available since they were first collected. (80825)

The following information on waiting times was collected in 1979.

In-patients

Total list size of patients waiting for ordinary admission.

Out-patients

No waiting time information collected.

Due to the lack of detailed data available, mean and median waits have not been calculated for 1979. The mean and median waiting times are available on a commissioner basis back to 1993-94 for in-patients, and 1997-98 for out-patients. However, figures are available on a provider basis back to 1987-88 for in-patients and 1993-94 for out-patients.

The figures are shown in the following tables.

*In-patient mean and medians in weeks from 1988*
	Median	Mean
Quarter ending	Provider	Commissioner	Provider	Commissioner
March 1988	21.7	—	28.9	—
March 1989	22.2	—	29.2	—
March 1990	20.5	—	27.7	—
March 1991	19.2	—	25.8	—
March 1992	13.9	—	20.4	—
March 1993	13.8	—	19.6	—
March 1994	—	14.4	—	20.2
March 1995	—	12.5	—	17.8
March 1996	—	11.8	—	15.9
March 1997	—	13.2	—	18.1
March 1998	—	14.9	—	20.0
March 1999	—	12.9	—	18.6
March 2000	—	12.9	—	18.7
March 2001	—	12.6	—	18.1
March 2002	—	12.7	—	17.4
March 2003	—	11.9	—	15.6
March 2004	—	10.2	—	12.4
March 2005	—	8.5	—	10.6
March 2006	—	7.3	—	8.7
Note: Provider based data only available prior to 1994 Source: KH07/QF01

*Out-patient mean and medians in weeks from 1994*
	Median	Mean
Quarter ending	Provider	Commissioner	Provider	Commissioner
March 1994	5.4	—	9.3	—
March 1995	6.0	—	9.3	—
March 1996	6.0	—	8.7	—
March 1997	6.0	—	8.7	—
March 1998	—	6.4	—	9.5
March 1999	—	7.0	—	10.5
March 2000	—	7.7	—	11.7
March 2001	—	7.5	—	10.9
March 2002	—	7.6	—	11.1
March 2003	—	7.4	—	9.0
March 2004	—	7.1	—	8.5
March 2005	—	7.0	—	7.5
March 2006	—	6.1	—	6.5
Note: Provider based data only available prior to 1998 Source: QM08/QM08r

Volume 448: debated on Thursday 6 July 2006