§ Mr. Deakinsasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what has been the net trend in numbers of National Health Service hospital beds since the Resources Allocation Working Party formula was first applied (a) in regions which have gained under the Resources Allocation Working Party formula and (b) in regions which have had resources reduced under the Resources Allocation Working Party formula.
§ Mr. John PattenThe available information is given in the table. Over this period the number of inpatient cases treated in England rose from 5,345,000 in 1977 to 6,019,000 in 1983.
945W
Average daily number of available beds in NHS hospitals 1977 1983 Regions which received more than their target fair share of resources Thames Regions* 122,391 107,485 Regions which received less than their target fair share of resources Northern 26,254 24,728 Yorkshire 30,890 28,034 Trent 32,187 30,481 East Anglian 13,241 13,001 Wessex 19,634 18,310 South Western 25,190 23,459
1977 1983 West Midlands 37,310 34,544 Mersey 22,964 19,848 North Western 31,681 30,384 Other† Oxford 14,184 12,817 * The four Thames regions (together with hospitals managed by Boards of Governors Special Health Authorities) have been treated as a single unit for the purposes of this reply. Boundary changes in 1982 would mean that trends by separate authorities would be misleading. † Oxford regional health authority's position has changed relative to its target fair share of resources during the period as follows: 1977–78 to 1979–80 above target, 1980–81 to 1982–83 below target, 1983–84 on target.