HC Deb 23 July 1979 vol 971 cc87-8W
Mr. Michael Brown

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services how many patients are currently waiting for hospital beds in the United Kingdom; and how many of these people have been on the waiting list for over a year.

Sir George Young

On 30 September 1978, the latest date for which figures are available, there were 628,360 patients awaiting admission to National Health Service hospitals for in-patient treatment in England. At the same date, the figure for Scotland was 62,200, for Wales 34,400 and for Northern Ireland 22,800. Of the patients with conditions classified as non-urgent, 158,300 in England and 9,200 in Wales had waited for more than one year. These figures are not available for Scotland and Northern Ireland.

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