§ Mr. Kinnockasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what numerical criteria his Department employs in deciding the desirable or acceptable number of persons constituting a catchment area for a new district general hospital.
§ Sir K. JosephDistrict general hospitals now being built are in the main planned to serve populations ranging from 150,000 to 250,000 or more depending on the availability of other hospital facilities in the area, the size of site available for building, and such variable factors as density of population, transport facilities and probable availability of staff for a new hospital.
Advice on the size of district general hospitals was contained in the report of a Committee of the Central Health Services Council on the Functions of the District General Hospital.
My Department is also conducting operational research studies on the size 289W of district general hospitals, the results of which are awaited. I intend to issue further guidance to hospital authorities in due course.