§ Mrs. Renée Shortasked the Secretary of State for Social Services (1) how many hospitals in each region allow parents unrestricted access to their children in hospital;
(2) in how many hospitals in each region children are being nursed in adult wards.
§ Mr. John PattenThis information is not routinely collected centrally, but the survey of facilities for parents of children in hospital carried out in 1982 by the National Association for the Welfare of Children in Hospital, and funded by the Department, records for each NHS region the total number of hospital wards admitting more than 50 children per year, the number which are either adult wards or annexes to adult wards, and the percentage of all wards allowing parents unrestricted access.
229W
Region Total number of wards Adult wards or annexes Percentage unrestricted access Northern 61 12 21 Yorkshire 65 14 35 Trent 70 16 50 East Anglian 34 20 32
Region Total number of wards Adult wards or annexes Percentage unrestricted access North West Thames 55 11 82 North East Thames 54 18 48 South East Thames 64 19 64 South West Thames 42 12 62 Wessex 53 25 55 Oxford 48 25 29 South Western 47 15 47 West Midlands 105 34 52 Mersey 67 10 55 North Western 103 22 35 ALL WARDS 868 253 49