§ Mr. Kirkwoodasked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will estimate the numbers of (a) in-patients, (b) day cases and (c) out-patients treated in the National Health Service for every year since 1970.
§ Mr. WhitneyI am sorry I cannot give the hon. Member the precise information he seeks. For the numbers of inpatient cases — not patients — and total out-patient attendances I refer him to my reply to my hon. Friend the Member for Staffordshire Moorlands (Mr. Knox) on 7 July at columns67–68. The available information on day cases and new out-patient attendances is given in the table.
554W
NHS hospitals in England Year Day case attendances New outpatient attendances (Thousands) (Thousands) 1970 N/A 7,744.6 1971 N/A 7,918.6 1972 398.1 7,926.6 1973 409.2 7,916.1 1974 449.6 7,824.8 1975 421.7 6,925.9 1976 480.5 7,498.5 1977 536.2 7,612.1 1978 562.2 7,711.9 1979 592.1 7,713.5 1980 670.8 7,942.2 1981 713.9 8,024.7 1982 706.5 8,097.0 1983 813.2 8,310.9 1984 902.9 8,508.1 N/A Not available