§ Mr. LeightonTo ask the Secretary of State for Health how many acute beds there were in the London borough of Newham(a) in 1979 and (b) at the latest available date.
§ Mr. DorrellIn 1979 the average daily number of acute beds in NHS hospitals in the Newham health authority was 761 compared with a provisional figure of 415 in 1990–91. Bed numbers are no measure of the number of patients treated; over the same period the number of in-patients and day cases treated increased by an average of 1.8 per cent. per annum.