§ Ms. PrimaroloTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what was the number of geriatric patients treated per regional health authority in the last 10 years; and what are the predicted numbers for the next 10 years.
§ Mr. YeoThe information requested is given in the table.
465W
1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–921 Mersey RHA 15,466 17,441 17,944 20,046 21,307 22,371 23,316 27,649 27,019 30,727 North Western RHA 30,895 35,044 37,470 42,423 43,847 46,908 47,323 50,798 52,760 55,448 Special Health Authorities 440 684 728 626 530 580 540 733 647 774 Notes:
From 1982 to 1987–88 the figures are for discharges and deaths.
From 1988–89 to 1991–92 the figures are for finished consultant episodes.
1 Provisional.
The information covers patients treated in the specialty of geriatric medicine and does not include the large numbers of elderly people treated in general acute wards, who are not separately identified.
Health authorities are responsible for assessing the health needs of their resident populations and planning their purchasing strategies accordingly. We do not routinely make long-term forecasts of patients numbers in view of the uncertainty attaching to assumptions about future trends. Various studies have been undertaken in this area including work carried out by the Department's economics and operational research division, published in "The Health of Elderly People: an epidemiological overview: Companion Papers", a copy of which is available in the Library.