§ 34. Miss Boothroydasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what recent initiatives he has taken to encourage health authorities to increase their annual turnover of cardiac operations and to make improvements in intensive care facilities.
§ Mr. John PattenIn January 1984, we asked health authorities to develop coronary artery surgery as a priority within the acute sector and this was restated in January 1985. The number of coronary artery bypass operations perfomed within the United Kingdom rose from 3,538 in 1979 to 9,443 in 1983, an increase of 167 per cent. It is for health authorities to relate intensive care facilities to the workload.