§ Mr. Gordon Wilsonasked the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will make a statement on the availability of hospital beds lor geriatric and psychogeriatric patients in Scotland; and if he will increase the provision for such patients to avoid the use of acute beds.
§ Mr. FairgrieveThe average number of staffed beds for geriatric patients in Scotland in the year ended.31 March 1980 was 10,454. The provision of an additional 650 geriatric beds is projected in the major and ordinary capital building programmes by 1986.
The comparable figure for psychogeriatric beds was 2.529-though many psychogeriatric patients were accommodated in psychiatric, geriatric, and other non-acute beds. There is provision for 210 new and 300 replacement psychogeriatric beds in the building programmes.