§ Mr. Freudasked the Secretary of State for Social Services how many maternity hospital beds per head of population is 661W the norm for Great Britain; and how this compares with the current provision of maternity beds in the Isle of Ely, Cambridgeshire Area Health Authority and Norfolk Area Health Authority.
§ Mr. MoyleCurrent guidance recommends the calculation of local maternity bed needs in relation to the birth rate of the population served, average duration of stay and bed occupancy rather than on the basis of beds per head of population. In 1975, the latest year for which figures are available, the average number of available maternity hospital—GP and consultant—beds per 1,000 female population aged 15–44 was as follows:
Cambridge AHA 2.2 Norfolk AHA 2.3 Great Britain 2.4 These data are available by area health authority or district and so cannot be given for the Isle of Ely as such.