HC Deb 25 April 1988 vol 132 c11
11. Mr. Barry Jones

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many hospital beds there were in (a) Wales and (b) Clwyd in May 1979; and what is the current number.

Mr. Grist

The average daily number of beds available in 1979 was 3,052 in Clwyd and 23,456 in Wales. The number available in 1986 was 2,769 and 21,686 respectively. The numbers of patients treated, however, was 47,741 in Clwyd and 349,695 in Wales in 1979, compared with 57,519 in Clwyd and 433,870 in Wales in 1986.

Mr. Jones

Will the Minister ensure ugent and decisive action regarding the need of patients in Clwyd to journey to England for radiotherapy and other cancer treatments? Does he understand the distress and worry for families as well as patients who must undertake these journeys? May I tell him of an elderly constituent who finds the journey costly and distressing, and who would like to be treated in his native Deeside? Will the Minister take urgent action?

Mr. Grist

The hon. Gentleman will know that the Welsh Office is indeed looking into the whole provision of cancer treatment in north Wales, for the reasons that he mentioned. We are aware of them.

Mr. Livsey

Will the Minister explain how, in making a speech in Builth Wells in my constituency last Friday, he said that the National Health Service did not require any more public funding, when in the same week Powys health authority announced the closure of 26 beds in St. David's hospital? Has that something to do with the formula associated with the number of private beds?

Mr. Grist

I think that it is worth pointing out that Powys health authority in-patient throughputs, both urgent and non-urgent, meet Welsh Office targets. That is a matter for congratulations. What I said was that it was not necessary to throw more money around to achieve better efficiency. We must get more efficiency out of the money that we already spend.

Mr. Nicholas Bennett

Does my hon. Friend agree that hospitals throughout Wales will be greatly helped by the most generous increase in nurses' pay that was announced last week? That increase contrasts with a cut in the real take-home pay of nurses under the previous Labour Government.

Mr. Grist

Indeed. The pay award means that expenditure in real terms on the Health Service in Wales under this Government has increased by more than 42 per cent. Nurses were not the only people to suffer under the previous Labour Government. Administrators, clerical grades, doctors and dentists also suffered cuts in real pay.