§ Mr. Greville Jannerasked the Secretary of State for Social Services how many of the hospital beds in the Leicester hospitals' catchment area are not in use because of shortage of nursing staff; in which hospitals are these beds; what proportion such closed beds represent of the beds which could be available in the hospital concerned; and how these figures compare with the average figure for each of the last five years in respect of which statistics are available.
§ Dr. OwenNo beds in the Leicester catchment area are closed solely because of nursing staff shortage. The following are closed as a result of general staffing, redeployment, maintenance and other reasons:
- Leicester General Hospital, 90–17.4 per cent. of total beds.
- Hillcrest Hospital, 30–20 per cent. of total beds.
- Croby Road, 31–7.6 per cent. of total beds.
Many changes have occurred in bed provision over the past five years and comparisons would be misleading.