Website will let patients see waiting times for appointments

Patients will be able to discover waiting times for routineoutpatient appointments at more than 3000 clinics with the launch ofa website yesterday.

The transfer of the national waiting times database - availableto GPs since last December - to the internet aims to ensure patientsare better placed to make informed choices about where and when theyare seen.

The database provides information on the provision of eight keyspecialities accounting for around 80% of all outpatientconsultations: general medicine; general surgery; ophthalmology;ear, nose and throat; urology; gynaecology; dermatology andorthopaedics.

Malcolm Chisholm, health minister, said the website, beingadvertised on posters and leaflets in practices, could help theexecutive reach its target of nobody waiting more than six monthsfor a first outpatient appointment by the end of 2005.

"Patients will be able to see waiting times for outpatientappointments at various hospitals and will, in consultation withtheir GP, choose where they wish to go and see a consultant," hesaid.

"I believe the openness and transparency that the database bringswill help tackle those longer waits for outpatient appointments."

The database is a key strand of the Executive's strategy to offergreater outpatient choice in their treatment.

Rosemary Hill, a patient representative from Argyll and ClydeHealth Council, who suggested the creation of the database, welcomedits launch on the web.

She said: "We welcome this initiative which offers hope to themany patients waiting in distress to see a consultant."

The website can be found at http:/www.show.scot.nhs.uk/waiting.