§ Mr. Meacherasked the Secretary of State for Social Services how many National Health Service hospital beds have closed each year since 1979 as a result of the closure of wards within hospitals that still remained open; and in which hospitals these beds were located in each case.
§ Mr. Kenneth Clarke[pursuant to his reply, 3 June 1985, c. 108]: I see no sensible purpose in keeping centrally a full inventory of furniture in each of our 185W hospitals. We only acquire information centrally on permanent partial closures when they are sufficiently significant to require formal consultation. In every case bed closures are only approved by Ministers when they are no longer necessary for patient care and the resources involved can be put to better use elsewhere. The total number of beds involved in such closures, by year of approval is as follows:
Number of beds May to December 1979 n/a January to December 1980 17 January to December 1981 705 January to December 1982 262 January to December 1983 598 January to December 1984 785 January to March 1985 207 n/a=Not available. NoteThe above figures do not include the closures at six hospitals for which we do not have information on bed numbers. These hospitals are indicated in the following table.
Details of the individual hospitals are as follows:
186W
Partial hospital closures (permanent) approved Region and Area/District Hospital Number of Beds Date approved (I) MAY TO DECEMBER 1979 North West Thames Kensington, Chelsea and Westminster St. Mary's, Harrow Road n/a August 1979 Kensington, Chelsea and Westminster St. Charles n/a August 1979 Oxford Oxfordshire Cowley Road n/a November 1979 Berkshire Canadian Red Cross n/a November 1979 (II) JANUARY TO DECEMBER 1980 North West Thames Ealing, Hammersmith and Hounslow West Middlesex 7 October 1980 Mersey Cheshire Canford Lodge 10 October 1980 (III) JANUARY TO DECEMBER 1981 Northern Cleveland North Tees DOH 8 July 1981 Yorkshire Humberside Withernsea 24 June 1981 Wakefield Stanley Royd 60 November 1981 Wakefield Snapesthorpe 24 November 1981 Trent Lincolnshire Skegness and District 9 May 1981 Nottinghamshire Highbury 13 May 1981 North West Thames Kensington, Chelsea and Westminster St. Mary's, Harrow Road 127 September 1981 Ealing, Hammersmith and Hounslow West Middlesex 60 October 1981 Wessex Hampshire King George's 10 January 1981 Wiltshire Westminster Memorial 8 January 1981 Wiltshire Royal National 18 January 1981 Wiltshire Royal United 24 April 1981 Wiltshire St. Martin's 215 April 1981 Wiltshire Royal United 16 September 1981 South East Thames Greenwich and Bexley Queen Mary's 20 October 1981 North East Thames Essex St. Margaret's 13 April 1981 Oxford Oxfordshire Longworth 10 January 1981 Berkshire Canadian Red Cross 46 February 1981 (Iv) JANUARY TO DECEMBER 1982
187W
Region and Area/District Hospital Number of Beds Date approved East Anglian West Norfolk and Wisbech Bowthorpe 20 May 1982 West Suffolk St. Leonard's, Sudbury 12 November 1982 North West Thames Brent and Harrow Shenley 20 February 1982 North West Hertfordshire Harpenden Memorial 8 October 1982 Mersey Liverpool Royal Liverpool Childrens 39 November 1982 Macclesfield Collar House n/a December 1982 West Midlands Hereford and Worcester Kidderminster General 44 May 1982 (Bewdley Road Branch) South East Thames West Lambeth South Western 39 December 1982 North East Thames Enfield Highlands 80 October 1982 (v) JANUARY TO DECEMBER 1983 Yorkshire Leeds Western Leeds General 70 February 1983 Trent North Derbyshire Walton 19 April 1983 Leicestershire Ellen Towle Home 20 June 1983 Leicestershire Leicester Royal Infirmary 46 June 1983 Leicestershire Groby Road 87 June 1983 North West Thames Victoria Banstead 40 December 1983 Mersey Macclesfield Congleton War Memorial 11 February 1983 Sefton Fazakerley n/a January 1983 West Midlands Walsall St. Margaret's 38 February 1983 Mid-Staffordshire Chase 10 November 1983 East Birmingham Yardley Green 30 October 1983 Dudley The Guest 59 December 1983 Dudley Burton Road 76 December 1983 Dudley Wordsley 12 December 1983 Dudley The Corbett 37 December 1983 South East Thames Maidstone Preston Hall 31 January 83 North East Thames Waltham Forest Whipps Cross 12 August 1983 (vi) JANUARY TO DECEMBER 1984 Northern South Tees Poole 60 March 1984 South Tees Middlesborough General 26 September 1984 Yorkshire Wakefield Pinderfields 22 March 1984 Harrogate Scotton Banks 26 October 1984 Trent Central Nottinghamshire Forest 16 February 1984 Central Nottinghamshire Victoria 106 February 1984 North West Thames North Bedfordshire Clapham 20 January 1984 Victoria Banstead 48 March 1984 Victoria St. Stephen's 27 September 1984 Victoria Westminster 9 September 1984 Hammersmith and Fulham West London 17 June 1984 Hammersmith and Fulham Charing Cross 30 August 1984 Enfield Highlands 23 July 1984 Hounslow and Spelthorne West Middlesex 34 September 1984 Hounslow and Spelthorne Ashford 24 Septmber 1984 East Hertfordshire Hertford County 24 December 1984 Mersey Liverpool Newsham 10 July 1984 Liverpool St. Paul's Eye 11 July 1984 Liverpool Alder Hey Childrens 24 July 1984 South Western Gloucester Lydney and District 7 February 1984 West Midlands North Staffordshire North Staffs Royal Infirmary 49 February 1984 North Birmingham Highcroft 80 May 1984 South Warwickshire Warenford 33 August 1984 South Warwickshire Stratford 51 August 1984 Wessex Salisbury Westminster Memorial 8 July 1984
188W
Region and Area/District Hospital Number of Beds Date approved (vII) JANUARY TO MARCH 1985 Yorkshire Scunthorpe Brumby 7 March 1985 North West Thames Paddington and North Kensington St. Charles 12 February 1985 Ealing Ealing (St. Barnard's Wing) 134 February 1985 North West Hertfordshire Harpenden Memorial 8 March 1985
Region and Area/District Hospital Number of Beds Date approved Mersey Liverpool Sir Alfred Jones Memorial 6 January 1984 Liverpool Newsham 16 January 85 Oxford Aylesbury Vale Tindal 24 March 1985 n/a=Not available.