Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, when he expects the Health and Social Care Information Centre to lease further procedure data on waiting times for hip and knees treatments; and what the reason for the time taken to release that data is.

The Health and Social Care Information Centre (HSCIC) are expecting to publish final 2013-14 hospital episode statistics for admitted patient care in January 2015. This will include data to allow analysis of procedures on hips and knees. The processing of annual hospital episode statistics has been transferred in-house to the HSCIC from the previous third-party supplier, and additional time is needed this year to test and assure the new arrangements.