§ Mr. William Hamiltonasked the Secretary of State for Scotland how many hospital beds have been closed in each health board area from 1 January 1980 to the latest date for which figures are available; and how many closures are contemplated in the financial year 1982–83.
§ Mr. Allan StewartAs indicated in the reply given by my hon. Friend to the hon. Member on 4 June 1981, figures of total reductions in bed numbers in each board area are not available centrally.—[Vol. 5, c. 347.] However, figures for total bed complements over all specialities in each health board area are available on an annual basis for the year ending 31 March. The latest available information covers the period 1 April 1980 to 31 March 1981. The overall net increase or decrease in bed complements for each health board in this period is as follows:
Health Board Net change in bed complement between 31 March 1980 and 31 March 1981 Argyll and Clyde +32 Ayrshire and Arran +6 Borders -1 Dumfries and Galloway -145 Fife +22 Forth Valley -158 Grampian -34 Greater Glasgow +86 Highland -11 Lanarkshire -52 Lothian -42 Orkney Nil Shetland Nil Tayside -265 Western Isles -14 -576 I shall write to the hon. Member giving more detail of these changes.
Information is not yet available for changes to bed complements in each board for year 1982–83.