§ Mr. Carter-Jones asked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will give the number of neonatal intensive care cots available by hospital and region per 1,000 births in 1980; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. Geoffrey Finsberg:The table below sets out by region the number of intensive care cots at March 1980 per 1,000 births in 1979—the latest figures available. It is not possible to give a similar ratio for individual hospitals, since some intensive care units provide a regional, and others a local service.
Region Total births in NHS hospitals
Intensive care cots
Cots per 1,000 births
Northern 41,494 5 0.12 Yorkshire 45,725 6 0.13 Trent 53,066 15 0.28 East Anglia 23,113 4 0.17 North West Thames 39,763 21 0.53 North East Thames 50,791 11–13† 0.22–0.26† South East Thames 43,881 16 0.36 South West Thames 32,674 12 0.37 Wessex 32,052 4 0.12 Oxford 31,249 6 0.19 South Western 35.209 29 0.82 West Midlands 69.247 16 0.23 Mersey 31,548 14 0.44 North Western 54,710 12 0.22 Boards of Governors* 4,257 2"5* 0.47–1.17* * Excludes Hospial for Sick Children, Great Ormond Street. † The number of intensive care cots available at any one time is not clear, since their availability tends to change from week to week according to staffing and referral states.