To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many patients under the auspices of the Leeds Primary Care Trust have been referred to consultants other than those originally selected by their GP; and in how many of these cases the permission of (a) the referring GP and (b) the patient was sought. (151428)

The requested information is not collected centrally. The Yorkshire and Humberside Strategic Health Authority advises that Leeds Primary Care Trust does not encourage general practitioners to refer to individual consultants, only to appropriate specialists. Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust then allocates consultants on the basis of waiting times.