The median waiting times fora first outpatient appointment with a consultant in the specialty of dermatology,following referral by a general medical practitioner, by NHS board ofresidence, in each of the last 10 years are given in the table.Information on waiting timesfor diagnostic tests, such as biopsies, is not collected centrally.The Centre for Change and Innovation will be launching a national redesign of dermatologyservices in February 2004 as part of our commitment to reducing outpatient waitingtimes and ensuring that no patient waits more than 26 weeks for a firstoutpatient appointment, following GP referral, by 31 December 2005.