§ Mr. Pavittasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what was the change in (a) the number of inpatients dealt with by medical and dental staff and (b) the number of out-patients treated in the period from 1975 to 1984; and to what factors he attributes the trends shown by the figures.
§ Mr. WhitneyI am sorry I cannot give the hon. Member the precise information he seeks. Information on individual patients is not available centrally. The relevant available statistics are given in the table. The figures show a rise in the numbers of cases treated, reflecting the more intensive use of beds and greater use of day case treatment. The figures for 1975 and 1982 were affected by the industrial action in the Health Service.
Hospital activity England—all specialties Thousands Year In-patient discharges and deaths Day case attendances Out-patients New Total attendances 1975 4,975.8 421.7 6,925.9 30,947.5 1976 5,254.6 480.5 7,498.5 32,396.4 1977 5,345.0 536.2 7,612.1 33,282.2 1978 5,370.3 562.2 7,711.9 33,950.3 1979 5,400.1 592.1 7,713.5 34,099.7 1980 5,670.0 670.8 7,942.2 35,243.0 1981 5,759.9 713.9 8,024.7 35,571.4 1982 5,719.6 706.5 8,097.0 35,651.2 1983 6,018.6 813.2 8,310.9 36,519.6 1984 6,177.5 902.9 8,508.1 37,042.7 Index: 1975=100 1975 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 1976 105.6 114.0 108.3 104.7 1977 107.4 127.2 109.9 107.5 1978 107.9 133.3 111.3 109.7 1979 108.5 140.4 111.4 110.2 1980 114.0 159.1 114.7 113.9 1981 115.8 169.3 115.9 114.9 1982 115.0 167.5 116.9 115.2 1983 121.0 192.8 120.0 118.0 1984 124.2 214.1 122.8 119.7