The following statistics were released today by the Department of Health:
Diagnostics waiting times & activity data, month ending 31 January 2012, and quarterly census for quarter ending 31 December 2011
The More information, including a diagnostic data Q&A, is available on the DH website.
Main findings this month
• The number of patients, for whom English commissioners are responsible, waiting 6 weeks or more for any one of the 15 key diagnostics tests at the end of January 2012 was 9,000, an increase of 1,000 from December 2011, but a decrease of 2,400 from January 2011.
• Of the patients waiting at the end of January 2012, 98.5% had been waiting under 6 weeks, compared to 98.6% in December 2011, and 97.8% in January 2011.
• The quarterly census of all tests, carried out at the end of December 2011, indicates there are an additional 6,700 waiters of 6 weeks or more in tests not captured in the 15 included in the monthly return. This is a decrease of 2,000 6 week waits since the September 2011 census
• Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust did not submit data for either publication.
The diagnostic data is available via the Department of Health website.