§ Dr. OwenTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will list for each year since 1979 the annual changes in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, in the numbers of(a) discharges and deaths, (b) new out-patients and attendances, (c) bottles of blood issued, (d) pathology tests, (e) ambulance journeys and (f) general practitioners' prescriptions.
§ Mrs. CurrieAvailable information is given in the tables. Information relating to Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland is the responsibility of my right hon. and learned Friend the Secretary of State for Scotland and my right hon. Friends the Secretaries of State for Wales and for Northern Ireland.
339W
Ambulance Services All Cases and all Patients Number of Patient-journeys (Thousands) 1979–1986 England Total Percentage change over previous year 19791 17,370 — 1980 20,350 17.2 1981 20,500 0.7 1982 20,110 -1.9 1983 21,270 5.8 1984 21,280 0.05 1985 21,360 0.4 1986 20,690 -3.1 Source: DHSS form SBH195.
Notes:
1. All patient-journeys are included in the totals whether the patient was carried by directly provided services or agency and supplementary services.
2. One patient-journey is defined as one patient carried once in one direction. A patient taken to a hospital and later in the same day taken home again counts as two patient-journeys.
1 1979 data cover a period of industrial dispute early in the year.
Prescription Analysis Data Number of Prescriptions (millions) England Percentage change over previous year 1979 304.6 -0.8 1980 303.3 -0.4 1981 300.0 -1.1 1982 311.3 3.8 1983 315.3 1.3 1984 320.5 1.6 1985 318.7 -0.6 1986 322.5 1.2 These data include a small number of prescriptions written by dentists, service doctors and hospital doctors which were dispensed by retail chemists. Prescriptions dispensed by dispensing doctors are not included.