NHS: Waiting Times

Lord Warner Excerpts

Tuesday 22nd November 2011 Lords Chamber

[Earl Howe]

Yes, my Lords, my noble friend is right. Five hospitals account for a very significant proportion of the number of patients waiting for longer than 18 weeks. We are working with those hospitals to look at ways in which that performance can be improved. We know that it can be because many hospitals are more than achieving the desired standard.

[Lord Warner]

My Lords—

[Baroness Jolly]

My Lords—

[The Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster (Lord Strathclyde)]

Perhaps we may hear from one noble Lord from the other side at a time, and then from my noble friend.

[Lord Warner]

I am grateful to the noble Lord. Blessed is the sinner who repents. However, will the Minister tell us whether in the light of this repentance, he will, following my noble friend Lord Beecham’s Question, look sympathetically at amendments to the Health and Social Care Bill which will give patients the kind of safeguards that targets did under the previous Government?

[Earl Howe]

My Lords, we believe that the safeguards are already in place, but the figure I cited in my original Answer is very similar to the figure we have seen over the past two and a half years. Little progress has been made over that time. We do not think that that is satisfactory, so we are broadening the operational standard to ensure that more patients are treated in a timely way. I am sure all noble Lords would wish to see that.