§ Mr. HarveyTo ask the Secretary of State for Health how many hospital beds were available in(a) Great Britain and (b) each NHS trust in (i) 1979, (ii) 1990 and (iii) each year since 1992 for which figures are available. [126921]
§ Mr. Denham[holding answer 21 June 2000]: Copies of the information available have been placed in the Library. This relates to all types of beds and is for England only. Hospital beds in Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales are a matter for the devolved administrations. The information is subject to the following caveats:
- Information on the average daily number of beds is now collected annually, on a financial year basis, from National Health Service providers. Prior to 1987–88 information was collected on a calendar year basis.
- Figures for 1989–90 were collected at district health authority level.
- From 1991–92 to 1994–95 NHS beds were provided by a mix of NHS trusts and directly managed units. The information in the tables is split into beds provided by NHS trusts and beds provided by directly managed units. From 1995–96 all beds were provided by NHS trusts.
Such information is published annually in 'Bed Availability and Occupancy, England', copies of which are in the Library.