§ Mr. Gordon Brownasked the Secretary of State for Social Services how many visits were carried out by home nurses to patients in 1983 and in each year from 1979.
§ Mr. John PattenThe number of actual visits undertaken by home nurses is not routinely collected. The numbers of first treatments* undertaken at patient's homes, including residential homes, for the period 1979 to 1982 were as follows:
Number of first treatments at patients' home England Calendar Year (Thousands) 1979 1,347.7 1980 1,426.2 1981 1,433.0 1982 1,453.7 The statistics for 1983 are not yet available.
*First treatment is the first treatment received by a patient from the home nursing service, not the first treatment for each separate problem and not the first treatment by individual nurses.