§ Mrs. Renée Shortasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what is the latest number of private hospital beds; and how many more he estimates are being planned.
§ Dr. VaughanOnly premises providing hospital services as defined in section 12(1) of the Health Services Act 1980, that is, in almost all cases, acute beds, are notified to my right hon. Friend under that Act. In June 1981, there were some 6,600 beds in premises providing acute medical and surgical care as set out in my hon. Friend's reply to the hon. Member for Holborn and St. Pancras, South (Mr. Dobson) on 18 January—[Vol. 16, c.55–57]. Since August 1980, we have been notified of 39 proposed new private hospital developments. If all were to proceed as notified, they would provide 2,043 additional beds.
§ Mrs. Renée Shortasked the Secretary of State for Social Services (1) if he will monitor the increase in the number of private hospital beds and their possible effect on the standards of care in the National Health Service;
(2) if he will introduce new measures to ensure that the private health sector is not subsidised in any way by the National Health Service.
§ Dr. VaughanThe number of private hospital beds is small compared with the number of beds available in the National Health Service, but we welcome the development of the private sector which adds to the health care resources of the country. The Health Services Act 1980 retained the legislative safeguards for the National Health Service. We see no need at present for further control of private development. Generally we expect the private sector to meet the full costs of any services provided for it by the National Health Service.
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§ Mrs. Renée Shortasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what are the figures for the number of (a) private hospital beds and (b) beds in National Health Service hospitals for each year since 1970 to the latest available date.
§ Dr. VaughanFollowing is the information for England:
Number of beds Year Independent Sector*† NHS†† 1970 23,346 423,621 1971 24,445 419,612 1972 24,778 412,664 1973 25,509 403,52 1974 26,965 396,235 1975 29,616 387,632 1976 29,819 383,132 1977 30,101 375,926 1978 30,847 369,235 1979 ‡31,300 361,670 1980 31,875 355,979 1981 **32,380 — Notes:
*Position as at 31 December unless otherwise stated.
† In premises registered under the Public Health Act 1936 (1970 to 1974) and under the Nursing Homes Act 1975 (1975 to 1981).
‡Estimated.
**30 June 1981.
†† Average daily number of available beds.