HC Deb 14 March 1972 vol 833 cc62-3W
Mr. William Rodgers

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services which general hospitals completed in the last 10 years have provision for accommodating in-patients with ear, nose and throat disease and which have not; and what is now the ratio of ear, nose and throat beds to population in their catchment areas.

Mr. Alison

The details are as follows:

Hospital* Number of Ear, Nose and Throat beds Ratio of Ear, Nose and Throat beds to 1,000 population in Catchment Area
Ashington Hospital None 0.06
West Cumberland Hospital 10 0.07
Airedale General Hospital None Nil
Huddersfield Royal Infirmary 27 0.11
QueenElizabethII Hospital, Welwyn Garden City 14 0.09
General Hospital, Southend 20 0.09
Isle of Thanet District Hospital, Margate 10 0.08
Crawley Hospital 20 0.08
Leighton New Hospital near Crewe 28 0.23
Poole General Hospital 42 0.13
* General hospitals where all phases of development or redevelopment have been completed and there is no firm plan for further work on the site.
† Area served by the Group to which the completed hospital belongs.

Mr. William Rodgers

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what is the proportion of ear, nose and throat beds to population in the hospital region currently making the highest provision for in-patients with ear, nose and throat diseases; what is the national average of such provision; and what is the provision in the areas of the Newcastle Regional Hospital Board, the South Teesside Hospital Management Committee and the North Teesside Management Committee, respectively.

Mr. Alison

The information is as follows:

Ear, Nose and Throat Beds per 1,000 population*
North West Metropolitan Regional Hospital Board (highest provision) 0.18†
England 0.13
Newcastle Regional Hospital Board 0.12
South Teesside Hospital Management Committee 0.18‡
North Teesside Hospital Management Committee Nil‡
* Figures include teaching hospital provision.
† Excluding the Royal National Ear, Nose and Throat postgraduate teaching hospital which is a national centre, the figure is 0.13.
‡ The policy of the Newcastle Regional Hospital Board is to provide ear, nose and throat services for all Teesside from the North Riding Infirmary, and the aggregated figure for both North and South Teesside is 0.13.