§ Dr. Owenasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what is the latest estimate for the number of people admitted into hospitals in England annually as a result of adverse effects of medicine or complications of surgical and medical care.
§ Mr. Kenneth ClarkeIn 1981, an estimated 94,030 discharges from NHS hospitals in England and Wales were of cases diagnosed as suffering from poisoning by drugs, medicaments and biological substances, (excluding adverse effects of correct substances properly administered). About 1,500 discharges are estimated to be of patients suffering from the general effects of correct substances properly administered but it is not possible to identify from our central sources certain specific effects sometimes associated with substances correctly administered. An estimated 32,630 discharges were associated with a diagnosis of complications of medical and surgical care.