HC Deb 09 February 1988 vol 127 cc213-4W
Mr. Nicholas Bennett

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Services what information he has concerning the total number of D and C operations performed in England and Wales in each of the last 25 years for which figures are available.

Mrs. Currie

[pursuant to her reply, 2 February 1958, c. 591]: The estimated number of D and C (dilettage and curettage of the uterus) operations performed in National Health Service hospitals in England and Wales from 1966 (the first year for which figures are readily available) to 1985 (the latest year for which information is held centrally) is given in the following table:

Year Estimated numbers
1966 112,050
1967 100,260
1968 125,050
1969 118,920
1970 121,800
1971 132,900
1972 132,620
1973 129,880
1974 125,970
1975 104,940
1976 118,400
1977 127,580
1978 122,600
1979 115,140
1980 115,890
1981 114,700
1982 107,980
1983 112,490
1984 109,450
1985 112,790