Rates for the immunisation of children by their second birthday remained several percentage points lower in London than in England as a whole. Adverse publicity concerning the effects of the MMR (measles, mumps and rubella) vaccination contributed to a fall from 83 per cent coverage in London in 1991/92 to 75 per cent in 2001/02, while coverage for most of the other major childhood vaccinations rose over the same period.
Numbers of people on NHS hospital waiting lists in London changed little between 2000 and 2002. However, average waiting times fell, and the numbers of people waiting more than 12 months decreased by nearly 3 percentage points to 3 per cent.
Forty two per cent of London’s 1,691 general medical practices had only one general practitioner in 2001, much higher than the England average of 29 per cent. The average list size for London GPs at 1,985 was higher than the average of 1,841 for England.
There were 4,500 children and young people on child protection registers in London in 2002 and nearly half the cases were due to neglect - 48 per cent in Inner London and 45 per cent in Outer London. This compares with 39 per cent in England as a whole. Sexual abuse was a relatively less common factor in London than nationally.
The London Fire Brigade employed around 6,600 people in March 2001, some 6 per cent fewer than in March 1999. London had a lower rate of fire-fighters, at 68 per 100,000 population, than the other metropolitan areas in England (74) or Great Britain as a whole (82).
Front-line ambulance staffing in London increased by 32 per cent between 1995 and 2003, reaching 2,500, while emergency calls increased by nearly 26 per cent in the same period. The rate of emergency incidents, at 7.7 per 100,000 population, was higher in London than in England as a whole in 2001/02.
Sources: Department of Health, Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, The Scottish Executive, The National Assembly for Wales.
Notes: Data relate to children reaching their second birthday during 1991/92 and 2001/02 and immunised by that birthday. Figures relate to people on the waiting lists on 31 March who were waiting for admission as either an in-patient or a day case and the length of time they had to wait to date. Figures are based on area of residence.
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