§ Mr. Michael Forsythasked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will list for each year since 1953 the average length of stay in National Health Service hospitals of acute, geriatric and child patients.
§ Mr. John Patten[pursuant to his reply, 11 November 1983, c. 252]: The average length of stay of patients in the acute specialities and in the geriatric and paediatric departments in National Health Service hospitals in England over the period 1953 to 1982 is given in the following table. Comparable figures prior to 1953 are not available.
504W
Average length of stay (in days) in NHS hospitals—England Year †Acute Paediatrics ‡Geriatrics 1953 19.8 18.7 180.7 1954 19.2 18.6 177.4
Year †Acute Paediatrics ‡Geriatrics 1955 19.0 17.5 171.8 1956 18.3 16.9 169.8 1957 17.6 16.1 163.9 1958 17.1 15.4 153.2 1959 16.3 14.7 142.9 1960 15.8 14.5 141.6 1961 15.1 13.5 129.0 1962 14.7 12.0 127.7 1963 13.3 12.0 126.2 1964 13.8 11.6 129.8 1965 13.5 10.8 127.8 1966 13.1 10.1 122.0 1967 12.7 9.6 124.7 1968 12.3 9.1 115.6 1969 11.8 8.4 116.5 1970 11.5 8.1 114.3 1971 11.0 7.8 113.3 1972 10.8 7.5 105.9 1973 10.6 7.1 102.7 1974 10.4 6.9 100.0 1975 10.4 6.6 94.9 1976 10.0 6.1 86.1 1977 9.7 5.9 84.8 1978 9.4 5.5 80.5 1979 9.3 5.3 78.4 1980 8.8 4.9 70.8 1981 8.6 4.6 67.3 *1982 8.6 4.4 62.8 Notes:
* Provisional.
† "Acute" is defined as all specialities other than geriatrics, obstetrics and GP maternity, mental illness and mental handicap.
‡ "Geriatrics" include chronic sick and younger disabled.