Treated faster

The statistics show that, of those patients who started their treatment in March 2007, 48% waited no more than 18 weeks following the initial referral by their GP – an improvement on snapshot figures released in December 2006, which showed that 35% of patients received treatment within 18 weeks.

There are some specialities, such as gastroenterology and general medicine, where patients have a greater chance of being seen and treated very quickly. For general medicine, 70% of patients are seen within 18 weeks and for gastroenterology 76% are seen within 18 weeks.