HC Deb 07 December 1983 vol 50 cc164-6W
Mr. MacKenzie

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland how many hospital beds are available in each health board area for elderly people in need of specialist care and attention.

Mr. Younger

At 31 March 1982—the latest date for which statistics are available centrally — the following number of staffed beds were available in each health board area for elderly patients, including those with mental disability:

Numbers
Argyll and Clyde 1,021
Ayrshire and Arran 978
Borders 409
Dumfries and Galloway 510
Fife 899
Forth Valley 553
Grampian 1,399
Greater Glasgow 2,427
Highland 382
Lanarkshire 996
Lothian 1,706
Orkney
Shetland 87
Tayside 1,470
Western Isles 97
Total 12,934

Mr. MacKenzie

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland how many nurses are in post in each health board area for the nursing of geriatric patients.

Mr. Younger

Provisional numbers of trained nurses and nursing auxiliaries — whole-time equivalents —employed in geriatric hospitals and in long-stay units mainly for geriatric patients at 31 March 1983 are as follows:

Health boards Trained nurses (WTE) Nursing auxiliaries (WTE)
Argyll and Clyde 137.6 261.0
Ayrshire and Arran 166.9 229.6
Borders 61.1 98.8
Dumfries and Galloway 56.9 35.8
Fife 79.9 63.5
Forth Valley 152.4 252.4
Grampian 213.3 239.8
Greater Glasgow 409.1 651.5
Highland 61.3 59.5
Lanarkshire 286.8 263.7
Lothian 287.9 318.2
Orkney
Shetland
Tayside 264.8 297.0
Western Isles 38.9 14.8
Total 2,216.9 2,785.6

Statistics of nurses in training at these hospitals are not available. Geriatric patients are nursed also in general and geriatric beds in general and teaching hospitals, but the number of nursing staff involved cannot be separately identified.

Mr. MacKenzie

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland how many doctors with specialist qualifications are in post in each health board area for the treatment of geriatric patients.

Mr. Younger

The numbers of consultants engaged wholly in geriatric medicine in Scotland as at 30 September 1982 are as follows. Geriatric patients are also treated by consultants in many other specialties.

Health board Consultants in geriatric medicine
Argyll and Clyde 4
Ayrshire and Arran 3
Borders 1
Dumfries and Galloway 2
Fife 2
Forth Valley 3
Grampian 4
Greater Glasgow 18
Highland 2
Lanark 5
Lothian 10
Orkney
Shetland
Tayside 7
Western Isles 1
Scotland 62

Mr. MacKenzie

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland how many elderly men and women are on the waiting list for treatment as geriatric patients in each area health board.

Mr. Younger

At 31 March 1982—the latest date for which statistics are available centrally—the number of elderly men and women on the waiting lists for treatment as geriatric patients in each area health board was as follows:

Health Board Geriatric Assessment Geriatric Long stay
Argyll and Clyde 51 83
Ayrshire and Arran
Borders 20 43
Dumfries and Galloway 41

Health Board Geriatric Assessment Geriatric Long stay
Fife 139
Forth Valley 77 29
Grampian 203
Greater Glasgow 24 45
Highland 6 27
Lanarkshire 441
Lothian 369 27
Orkney
Shetland
Tayside 80 66
Western Isles 28

It should be noted that the basis on which waiting lists are maintained varies between different health boards.

Mr. MacKenzie

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland what additional measures he proposes to make available to area health boards for the provision of additional beds and nursing of geriatric patients.

Mr. Younger

The formula used for calculating the distribution of funding between health boards takes into account the different age and sex structures in each board's population. Boards which have a high proportion of elderly people in their area will therefore find this reflected in their allocation.