§ Mr. Ralph Howellasked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland (1) how many National Health Service hospitals there are in Northern Ireland; how many are fully in use; how many are partially in use; and how many are under construction;
(2) how many beds, wards and operating theatres there are within the National Health Service in Northern Ireland; and how many are not being used.
§ Mr. Chris PattenThere are 17,921 beds and 93 main operating theatres in 82 Health Service hospitals in Northern Ireland. Of this total, 160 beds drawn from three hospitals are not currently available for use. Area health and social service boards are not required to produce statistics on the numbers of wards, and that information is not therefore readily available. One hospital is under construction.
§ Mr. Ralph Howellasked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how much money was lost in each year since 1979 in the National Health Service in Northern Ireland through pilfering; and what percentage of total expenditure these figures represent.
§ Mr. Chris PattenDetailed information on identified losses due to pilfering is not held centrally. Losses due to theft are aggregated with those attributable to fraud, arson and vandalism in the final accounts of health and social services boards. Cash, stores and inventory losses attributed to such causes in the financial years 1979–80 to 1981–82 are shown below:
1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 £ £ £ Cash 904 2,251 1,714 Stores 8,027 11,243 12,466 Total 8,931 13,494 14,180 Total expressed as a percentage of Health Service expenditure. 0.0029 0.0035 0.0032
§ Mr. Ralph Howellasked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many agency nurses are being employed by the National Health Service in Northern Ireland.
§ Mr. Chris PattenOn 7 July 1983 there were four agency nurses employed on a temporary basis by the Health Service in Northern Ireland.