§ Mr. Robin CookTo ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will list for each year since 1979(a) the number of acute beds available and (b) the number of non-acute beds available in each regional health authority; and if he will give the national total for each year.
§ Mr. Michael ForsythThere are no regional health authorities in Scotland. The nearest equivalent to a regional health authority is Scotland taken as a whole. The average available number of staffed beds in NHS hospitals in Scotland at 30 September in each year since 1979 is set out in the table below.
Year 1Acute 2Non-acute Total 1979 24,546 33,956 58,501 1980 24,412 33,793 58,205 1981 24,222 33,808 58,028 1982 23,727 33,715 57,440 1983 23,574 33,722 57,295 1984 23,367 33,849 57,216 1985 33,936 33,399 56,335 1986 22,450 33,284 55,734 1987 22,113 32,775 54,888 1988 21,691 32,235 53,925 These figures reflect changes in clinical practice and more extensive use of community care offset by increased provision for priority groups such as the elderly. 1 Includes the following specialty groups: acute, supra-area, obstetrics and special categories 2 Includes long-stay, psychiatric and mental handicap specialty groups.