Table 1.
Specialty specific distribution of numbers of patients waiting for elective surgery in England, 1 October-31 December 1999
| Specialty
|
No of trusts
|
Total No waiting
|
Total No (%) waiting ⩾6 months
|
Overall national throughput*
|
Patients waiting ⩾6 months as % of national throughput*
|
% contribution of upper fourth of trusts to
|
||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total No waiting ⩾6 months in England†
|
National throughput
|
|||||||
| General surgery: | ||||||||
| Day cases | 204 | 109 818 | 20 813 (19) | 445 705 | 5 | 60 | 30 | |
| Inpatients | 197 | 99 147 | 28 609 (29) | 925 412 | 3 | 52 | 32 | |
| Trauma and orthopaedic surgery: | ||||||||
| Day cases | 207 | 88 344 | 22 562 (26) | 181 684 | 12 | 63 | 29 | |
| Inpatients | 197 | 154 835 | 61 399 (40) | 588 623 | 10 | 52 | 36 | |
| Ear, nose, and throat surgery: | ||||||||
| Day cases | 165 | 23 566 | 4 356 (18) | 110 940 | 4 | 80 | 23 | |
| Inpatients | 150 | 79 274 | 25 525 (32) | 249 758 | 10 | 63 | 31 | |
| Ophthalmic surgery: | ||||||||
| Day cases | 149 | 138 659 | 39 174 (28) | 238 153 | 16 | 67 | 42 | |
| Inpatients | 128 | 24 641 | 8 121 (33) | 119 528 | 7 | 83 | 45 | |
*
Throughput (number of finished consultant episodes) includes non-waiting list patients.
†
% contributed by hospital trusts forming the upper quarter of numbers of patients with prolonged waits to the total numbers waiting >6 months in England.