§ 62. Mr. Gallacherasked the Minister of Health what was the number of beds reserved for tuberculosis and available for immediate occupation on 31st March in England and Wales, respectively; and the number of such beds expressed as the number per 100 annual tuberculosis deaths for England and Wales, respectively?
Mr. MacDonaldThe latest date for which complete returns are available is 31st December, 1939. On that date, the 312 number of beds reserved for the treatment of tuberculosis in England was 24,606of which 19,312 were occupied. The corresponding figures for Wales were 1,827 and 1,640. The annual death rate returns for 1939 are not yet available, but the number of beds reserved for the treatment of tuberculosis in England expressed as the number per hundred tuberculosis deaths in 1938 is approximately 102, while for Wales it is 91.