HC Deb 16 March 1970 vol 798 cc18-20W
Mr. Pardoe

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services how many hospital beds for geriatric patients were available in Cornwall and the clinical areas to which the Cornish have access, at the latest date for which figures are available; how many were available in 1964; and how many persons were on the waiting lists for such beds on the same dates.

Dr. John Dunwoody

The figures for hospital management committee areas in or serving parts of Cornwall are:

31st December 1964 31st December 1969
Number of available geriatric beds 1,077 1,258
Number on waiting list 158 230

Mr. Pardoe

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services how many additional new beds have been supplied in National Health Service hospitals in Cornwall and in the clinical areas to which the Cornish have access since the introduction of the Service; and how many of these have been provided since December, 1964.

Dr. John Dunwoody

375 and 232 respectively. These figures represent the net increase in the number of beds in hospital management committee areas in, or serving, parts of Cornwall.

Mr. Pardoe

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what was the total expenditure on hospitals in Cornwall and in the clinical areas to which the Cornish have access, in the period since 1964, and in the similar period prior to that date.

Dr. John Dunwoody

The available information for two five-year periods is as follows:

1959–60 to 1963–64 1964–65 to 1968–69
£ million £ million
Capital expenditure in the areas of the West Cornwall and St. Lawrences' Hospital Management' Committees 1.705 3.506
Revenue expenditure on all hospitals in Cornwall 13.009 20.189

Details of capital expenditure are readily available only for complete hospital management committee areas.

Capital and revenue expenditure on hospitals elsewhere in the country in providing services for patients normally resident in Cornwall cannot be separately identified.

Mr. Pardoe

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what was the average number of patients per general practitioner in Cornwall in 1969 and 1964.

Dr. John Dunwoody

For doctors providing full general medical services, 2,079 at 1st October, 1969, and 1959 at 1st October, 1964. The comparable figures for England as a whole are substantially higher.