HC Deb 05 March 1969 vol 779 cc133-4W
Dr. Winstanley

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services (1) how many general practitioners providing general medical services under the National Health Service in England and Wales have access to general practitioner beds for the care and treatment of their own patients; what is this figure as a percentage of all general practitioners under contract with executive councils to provide general medical services; and how these figures compare with the corresponding figures for 1966, 1964, 1962,1960, and 1958 or the nearest convenient years;

(2) what is the average number of general practitioner beds available to each general practitioner with access to them for the care and treatment of their own patients; and how this figure compares with the corresponding figures for 1966, 1964, 1962, 1960 and 1958 or the nearest convenient years;

(3) how many general practitioners providing maternity services under the National Health Service in England and Wales have access to general practitioner maternity beds in hospital for the care of their own patients; what is this figure as a percentage of all general practitioners under contract to executive councils to provide maternity services; and how these figures compare with the corresponding figures for 1966, 1964, 1962, 1960 and 1958 or the nearest convenient years;

(4) what is the average number of general practitioner hospital maternity beds available to each general practitioner with access to them for the care of their own patients; and how this figure compares with the corresponding figures for 1966, 1964, 1962, 1960, 1958 or the nearest convenient years.

Mr. Crossman

In accordance with the policy of my Department that general practitioners should be able to have continuing responsibility for the care of suitable patients in hospital, the number of beds available to them and the number of patients treated in those beds in the years indicated were:—

Staff beds allocated in general practitioner units (at 31st December) Discharges and Deaths
Medical (other than maternity) Maternity Medical (other than maternity) Maternity
1958 … 6,967 3,373 109,676 89,296
1960 … 7,104 3,685 114,770 102,343
1962 … 7,076 3,944 113,566 120,567
1964 … 7,069 4,090 113,644 135,877
1966 … 7,027 4,428 109,443 150,443
1967 … 7,125 4,668 109,210 160,127

I do not maintain centrally information about the number of practitioners who participated in these arrangements.