§ Mr. Dobsonasked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will give the total National Health Service waiting list every six months since 1956.
§ Mr. WhitneyI am sorry I cannot give the hon. Member all the information he seeks. Some of the information is not held centrally. The available information is given in the table. Over this period the number of in-patient discharges and deaths per year increased by 74 per cent. from 3.5 million to 6.2 million.
537W
Number of cases on in-patient waiting list at 31 December, 31 March, 30 June, 30 September—England Number December 1956 404,176 December 1957 415,168 December 1958 420,548 December 1959 447,469 December 1960 442,995 December 1961 450,681 December 1962 446,842 December 1963 454,193 December 1964 476,403 June 1965 499,730 December 1965 492,129 June 1966 512,002 December 1966 510,422 June 1967 513,351
Number December 1967 509,537 June 1968 513,004 December 1968 505,107 June 1969 515,140 December 1969 532,370 June 1970 539,686 December 1970 525,926 June 1971 519,322 December 1971 493,731 June 1972 496,569 December 1972 479,199 June 1973 542,074 December 1973 508,617 June 1974 508,390 December 1974 517,424 June 1975 532,613 December 1975 588,483 March 1976 583,851 September 1976 588,264 March 1977 595,490 September 1977 591,096 March 1978 603,240 September 1978 628,361 March 1979 752,422 September 1979 695,726 March 1980 664,919 September 1980 635,881 March 1981 628,333 September 1981 619,393 March 1982 622,480 September 1982 725,865 March 1983 726,186 September 1983 703,755 March 1984 692,945 September 1984 682,599 March 1985 674,453