§ LORD AVEBURYasked Her Majesty's Government:
What research has been conducted into the wide variation in the number of new outpatients per thousand population in accident and emergency departments from one Regional Hospital Board to another, as shown in Table 69 of Social Trends No. 2, and what conclusions have been drawn from this research.
§ THE MINISTER OF STATE, DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND SOCIAL SECURITY (LORD ABERDARE)My Department has not conducted research specifically into regional variations in the number of new patients attending accident and emergency departments.
Such services are provided by general practitioners as well as by hospitals, and variations in the number of new attendances at hospital accident and emergency departments reflect not only possible variations in the accident rate but, among other factors, the tendency in a particular area for patients to go first to their general practitioners in an emergency or to go to hospitals. It is, for example, likely that both in areas where people work rather than live and in holiday areas an unusually large number of patients will go direct to hospitals for any medical help.