§ Mr. BurstowTo ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for Maidenhead (Mrs. May), of 15 May 2002.,Official Report, column 735W, on hospital discharges, (1) if he will set out the target number of the maximum number of beds blocked following the 20 per cent. reduction of bed blockers as proposed in, Delivering the NHS Plan, paragraph 8.10; [60814]
(2) how many people had their discharge delayed in March, broken down by (a) reason, (b) health authority and (c) length of delay. [60815]
§ Jacqui Smith[holding answers 12 June 2002]: All information, collected centrally, on delayed discharge in March 2002, quarter 4 of 2001–02, has been placed in the Library. The NHS Plan target is to reduce the number of delayed discharges from hospitals by 20 per cent. between March 2002 and March 2003.