Mr. Gresham Cookeasked the Minister of Health what he estimates would be the approximate annual cost of increasing by 50 per cent. the number of hospital beds available in England and Wales.
§ Mr. Walker-SmithThere are so many imponderables that it is not practicable to make such an estimate. The estimated current annual cost of the hospital service in England and Wales is about £355 million (including about £235 million for salaries and wages of staff), but an increase in the number of beds made available would not of course necessarily result in a corresponding proportionate increase in the annual cost.