HC Deb 12 April 1988 vol 131 cc94-5W
Mrs. Gorman

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Services what is the current number of National Health Service beds per 1,000 of the population; and if he will give comparable figures for previous years at 10-yearly intervals, including the earliest year available.

Mrs. Currie

The available information is given in the table.

National Health Service hospital beds per thousand population, England
Year Average daily available beds 2 Population (thousands) Beds per thousand population
1949 1428,314 40,529.2 10.57
1956 1450,240 42,059.5 10.70
1966 434,846 45,264.5 9.61
1976 383,132 46,659.9 8.21
1986 315,714 47,254.5 6.68
1 Estimate.
2 Mid year population estimates.

Mrs. Gorman

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will provide the latest figures available on the number of National Health Service hospital beds per 1,000 of the population in the United Kingdom and in other European countries.

Mrs. Currie

The table gives the available information published by the OECD in 1985. It does not, however, distinguish between private and state provision of hospital beds.

Table 27
In-patient medical care beds per 1,000 population, 1980s
(Actual year in brackets)
Country 1980s
Austria 10.8 (1983)
Belgium 9.5 (1982)
Denmark 7.4 (1983)
Finland 15.5 (1982)
France 11.6 (1983)
Germany 11.1 (1982)
Greece 6.2 (1981)
Iceland 11.1 (1982)
Ireland 9.7 (1980)
Italy 7.7(1983)
Luxembourg 13.0 (1983)
Netherlands 12.0 (1983)
Norway 6.5 (1983)
Portugal 5.1 (1982)
Spain 5.4 (1981)
Sweden 14.0 (1983)
Switzerland 11.5(1982)
Turkey 2.1 (1982)
United Kingdom 8.1 (1981)
Note: Data for Ireland in this table include long.term hospitals.
Source: Measuring Health Care 1960–1983, OECD, Paris, 1985, Table D.4.