§ 67. Mr. Hugh Jenkinsasked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will seek to increase the number of hospital beds available to the population of England and Wales up to the levels of provision in Germany, Italy, Canada, Japan and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, from details available to him from international sources.
§ Mr. AlisonThe need for hospital beds depends on very many factors, notably on the relationship between the functions of the hospital service and those of the supporting health and welfare services. The relationship in England and Wales differs from that in many of the countries mentioned, and it would be wrong for our planning to be guided by simple statistical comparisons.