§ Mr. PikeTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Services what is the average bed occupancy rate by region in National Health Service hospitals for the last date for which figures are available; and what are the comparative figures for the previous five years.
§ Mrs. CurrieThe table gives the information requested about bed occupancy (the average number of occupied beds as a percentage of the available beds for all specialties).
The health services information steering group (chaired by Mrs. Körner) recommended in its first report that a more useful measure is patient throughput, the annual number of patients per available bed. These are also given in a table.
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Percentage bed occupancy by Regional Health Authority, 1981–1986 Health Authority Year 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 Northern 79.3 78.0 78.5 78.7 79.5 79.6 Yorkshire 80.4 78.7 79.0 78.0 78.6 78.4 Trent 79.4 78.3 78.7 78.4 78.5 77.9 East Anglian 79.4 79.0 78.7 78.3 79.1 78.4 North West Thames1 83.5 82.4 82.3 82.4 83.0 83.5 North East Thames1 83.7 82.6 83.2 83.3 84.7 84.3 South East Thames1 81.7 80.9 80.6 80.9 81.9 81.5 South West Thames1 85.3 85.1 84.3 84.4 84.7 84.4 Wessex 80.7 79.3 79.2 78.8 79.9 79.0 Oxford 79.4 79.1 79.7 79.1 79.5 79.0 South Western 80.7 80.3 80.2 80.0 80.3 78.9 West Midlands 80.6 79.7 80.2 80.3 80.6 80.5 Mersey 82.2 82.1 83.0 83.7 83.8 82.9 North Western 81.4 80.1 80.5 80.6 81.4 80.2 Special Health Authorities1 74.0 75.4 75.4 76.2 76.2 77.8 England 81.3 80.4 80.6 80.5 81.1 80.6 1 Figures are not comparable over the whole period, due to NHS restructuring in 1982.
Annual number of patients per available beds 1981–1986 Health Authority Year 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 Northern 15.9 15.2 16.5 17.3 18.2 19.0 Yorkshire 16.1 15.9 17.5 18.2 19.3 20.5 Trent 16.5 16.4 17.8 18.6 19.7 20.5 East Anglian 16.8 16.5 17.7 18.7 20.0 20.4 North West Thames1 15.5 15.3 16.1 16.9 17.6 18.3 North East Thames1 16.7 17.5 18.3 19.1 20.1 20.4 South East Thames1 17.0 17.2 18.1 19.3 20.6 21.4 South West Thames1 13.1 13.1 13.9 14.7 15.5 16.4 Wessex 17.3 17.3 18.2 19.1 20.2 21.3 Oxford 20.4 20.3 21.6 22.4 23.7 24.5 South Western 15.2 15.5 16.4 17.6 18.6 19.6 West Midlands 16.4 16.8 17.9 19.1 20.1 20.9 Mersey 14.2 14.3 15.8 16.9 17.9 18.8 North Western 18.1 18.1 19.3 20.1 21.3 22.0 Special Health Authorities1 27.2 27.2 27.7 28.2 29.5 30.3 England 16.4 16.4 17.5 18.5 19.5 20.3 1 Figures are not comparable over the whole period, due to NHS restructuring in 1982.
§ Mr. AllenTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Services (1) what is the current bed availability by district health authority for Nottinghamshire as at the latest date and the comparative figures for each year since 1979;
(2) how many beds are available in each unit of the district health authorities in Nottinghamshire; and what are the comparable figures for 1979.
§ Mrs. CurrieThe information requested is given in tables 1 and 2. The number of in-patient cases treated by health authorities in Nottinghamshire has increased by 28 per cent. between 1979 and 1986 from 115,198 to 147,511.
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Table 1 Average daily number of available beds in National Health Service hospitals in Nottinghamshire in years 1979 and 1986 Hospital 1979 1986 Bassetlaw District Health Authority Retford and District Hospital 95.0 74.0 Victoria Hospital 110.0 84.5 Bassetlaw District Hospital 198.0 319.5 Central Nottinghamshire Health Authority Mansfield and District General Hospital 177.0 168.2 Newark General Hospital 72.0 59.2 Kings Mill Hospital 422.3 437.4 Forest Hospital 87.8 71.0 Newstead Hospital 125.4 137.6 883W
Hospital 1979 1986 Victoria Hospital 266.6 159.3 Debdale Hall Recovery Hospital1 37.0 — Langwith Lodge 29.2 28.5 Berry Hill Hospital 40.0 36.3 Ransom Hospital 60.0 58.0 Newark Hawtonville Hospital 130.0 116.0 Balderton Hospital 362.0 269.4 Harlow Wood Orthopaedic Hospital 187.9 177.5 Nottingham Health Authority The Cedars Rehabilitation Unit1 32.5 — Nottingham City Hospital 917.8 1,084.4 The Firs Maternity Hospital1 40.0 — The Coppice Hospital 164.0 161.0 Mapperley Hospital 116.0 5.6 St. Francis Hospital 500.8 312.8 Ellerslie House1 24.0 — Sherwood Hospital1 322.9 — Basford Hospital 103.1 104.0 St. Anns Hospital 77.5 69.0 Nottingham General Hospital 423.4 230.9 Highbury Hospital 244.3 190.5 Ruddington Hall Hospital1 36.5 — Saxondale Hospital 662.8 399.0 Nottingham Eye Hospital1 58.9 — Nottingham Hospital for Women1 157.5 — University Hospital 315.7 1,236.9 1 Due to hospital closures or hospital mergers figures for 1986 are not available.
Table 2 Average daily number of available beds, Nottinghamshire Health Authorities Health Authority Year 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 Bassetlaw 403 408 412 424 424 419 433 478 Central Nottinghamshire 1,997 1,967 1,949 1,934 1,888 1,851 1,794 1,718 Nottingham 4,198 4,088 4,041 4,029 4,000 3,958 3,931 3,794
§ Mr. AllenTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Services how many National Health Service beds are allocated for the use of military personnel(a) currently and (b) for use in the event of nuclear war; and what funding arrangements exist.
§ Mrs. CurrieMilitary personnel are admitted to NHS hospitals if necessary, in particular where they require specialised treatment not provided by service hospitals. There is no specific allocation of beds for this purpose, nor do special funding arrangements exist.
In the event of war in Europe it is expected that NHS hospitals would receive military casualties evacuated to this country, as well as those sustained on United Kingdom soil. Plans are not made on the basis of specific allocation of beds. In the aftermath of a nuclear attack, surviving Heath Service hospitals would be supported by emergency medical centres, but according to the scale of the attack evacuation of casualties to the United Kingdom might not be possible.