§ Mr. Irvingasked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will estimate the total number of patients treated within the National Health Service in (a) 1974, (b) 1979 and (c) 1983 and at the latest date for which figures are available.
§ Mr. WhitneyInformation on individual patients treated is not available centrally. The available information on the main hospital services is given in the table:
NHS Hospitals, England (Thousands) 1974 1979 1983 1984 Inpatient cases 5,172 5,400 6,019 6,178 Day cases 450 592 813 903 Total outpatient attendances 33,352 34,100 36,520 37,043 Total Accident and emergency attendances 12,921 13,219 13,603 13,769