To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate his Department has made of the average length of time spent on waiting lists by patients who were transferred from one NHS hospital to another NHS hospital when the first hospital was unable to perform an operation in the latest period for which figures are available; what steps his Department is taking to reduce such waiting lists; and if he will make a statement. (222324)

The information requested is not collected centrally.

By the end of December 2008, no one should wait more than 18 weeks from the time they are referred by their general practitioner to the start of their treatment unless it is clinically appropriate to do so or they choose to wait longer. The 18-week target applies equally to those patients who need to transfer between hospitals while they are on their 18-week pathway.