Written question asked by Iris Robinson (Democratic Unionist Party) on Friday, 23 January 2004, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Friday, 30 January 2004. It was answered by Baroness Smith of Basildon (Labour) on Friday, 30 January 2004 on behalf of the Northern Ireland Office.

Northern Ireland Office

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what the average waiting times are for (a) inpatient admission and (b) outpatient assessment in each of the Province's orthopaedic centres. - Including table.

Answer: Mrs. Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what the average waiting times are for (a) inpatient admission and (b) outpatient assessment in each of the Province's orthopaedic centres. [151212] Angela Smith: The information is as follows: (a) The average waiting time for inpatient admission to the Trauma and Orthopaedic Specialty by Provider Trust in 2002-03 is shown in the following table. _________________________________________________________________________________________________. Provider Trust Average wait in days Royal Group of Hospitals HSS Trust 16 Green Park Healthcare HSS Trust 174 Ulster Community and Hospitals Trust 21 Altnagelvin Group HSS Trust 188 Northern Ireland Average 162 _________________________________________________________________________________________________. Note: The data is calculated based on those people who were electively admitted to hospital during 2002-03. Data for the Royal Group of Hospital HSS Trust includes patients admitted to the Trauma and Orthopaedic specialty in the Royal Belfast Hospital for Sick Children. The casemix at the Royal Group of Hospitals HSS Trust and the Ulster Community and Hospitals Trust is different to the casemix at Green Park Healthcare HSS Trust and Altnagelvin Group HSS Trust. This accounts for the large variation in average waiting time between these Trusts. Source: Hospital Inpatients System (b) The information requested is not available

Secondary information