§ Mr. Cartwrightasked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will list those health districts in England and Wales which are likely to have (a) more acute hospital beds and (b) fewer acute hospital beds as a result of current rationalisation proposals and plans to redistribute resources.
§ Mr. MoyleIn any district, and between districts, proposals for rationalisation and distribution of resources are matters currently being considered in detail by area and regional health authorities and I am not able to forecast the likely outcome either for particular districts or overall. Nationally, bed numbers for the acute specialties have fallen from 144,100 in 1972 to 138,100 in 1976.