§ Mr. Norman HoggTo ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will give figures showing the numbers of(a) hospital closures and (b) ward closures in Scotland for each year since 1979; and if he will also provide a breakdown of these figures for each health board.
§ Mr. Michael ForsythThe information for complete hospital closures is set out in the table. Records on partial closures and ward closures are not held centrally. In the same period, 51 major new hospital developments providing some 5,770 beds have been opened.
Number of hospitals Year 1979 7 1980 3 1981 3 1982 3 1983 4 1984 4 1985 3 1986 8 1987 3 Health Board Argyll and Clyde 12 Ayrshire and Arran 3 Borders 2 Fife 2 Forth Valley 2 Grampian 1 Greater Glasgow 5 Highland 1 Lanarkshire 2 Lothian 1 Shetland 2 Tayside 5