§ Mr. Wilsonasked the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will make a statement on the availability of hospital beds for geriatric and psychogeriatric patients in Scotland; and if he will increase the provision for such patients to avoid the use of acute beds.
§ Mr. John MacKayThe report "Scottish Health Authorities' Priorities for the Eighties" recognised that increases in geriatric and psychogeriatric beds were desirable and should receive high priority. More recently, the attention of health boards has been drawn to the report of the capital steering group, which recommends that the largest single element of the NHS capital programme should be reserved for investment in the SH WE priority services and offers estimates of the scale of provision which may be appropriate in each area by 1991.
The considerable use of acute beds by elderly people largely reflects their need for hospital services and the time they require to recover from treatment. Unnecessary occupation of such beds by elderly patients has not been shown to be generally a major problem, though it may be of particular significance in some units.