HC Deb 26 October 1984 vol 65 c750W
Mr. Corbyn

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will give the latest information on the acute beds vacant and the length of the waiting list for each hospital in the Islington health district.

Mr. John Patten

The latest available figures for beds, together with waiting list figures at a comparable date, are given in the table. Bed occupancy figures are based on a midnight count and do not therefore reflect the use of beds by patients who do not stay overnight. The waiting list figures do not include patients waiting to be treated on a non-residential basis. In general, figures on waiting lists are believed to include a significant proportion of duplicated entries and patients who no longer require treatment. The amount of overstatement cannot readily be estimated, but is thought to exceed 10 per cent. nationally and could be considerably more. About half of all admissions to hospital are immediate, and many of those on waiting lists already have a planned date of admission.

Islington District Health Authority
Hospital Average daily number of acute* beds recorded as available but not occupied during 1983 Number of persons on acute* inpatient waiting lists on 31 December 1983
Whittington hospital 126 589
Royal Northern hospital 60 617
Hornsey central hospital 6
City of London maternity home 1
* All specialties except geriatrics, units for younger disabled, GP maternity, obstetrics, mental illness, mental handicap.