§ Mr. Ralph HowellTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what was(a) the total number of beds available daily in the United Kingdom and (b) the number unoccupied in the NHS for each of the years 1979, 1986, 1987 and 1988.
§ Mr. FreemanInformation for Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland is a matter for my right hon. Friends the Secretaries of State for Wales and for Northern Ireland and my right hon. and learned Friend the Secretary of State for Scotland.
Information for England is given in the table.
Beds in NHS hospitals, England, 1979, 1986 and 1987–88 Year Average daily available beds 1Average daily occupied beds Average daily unoccupied beds 1979 361,670 293,272 68,398 1986 315,714 254,597 61,117 1987–88 297,342 2240,000 57,342 1 Bed occupancy figures are based on a midnight count and do not reflect the use of beds by patients who do not stay overnight 2 Estimated.
§ Mr. RiddickTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what income has been derived by the Huddersfield health authority from pay beds in the latest year for which figures are available and in the preceding eight years; and how that income has been used.
§ Mr. MellorThe table lists the information requested from 1982–83 onwards. Prior to 1 April 1982, the authority's predecesssor health district formed part of an area health authority and district based figures were not collected centrally.
Income from private in-patients (under section 65 of the NHS Act 1977) Year £ 1982–83 61,962 1983–84 156,764 1984–85 191,590 1985–86 71,107 1986–87 9,745 11987–88 16,354 1 Latest available—annual accounts for 1988–89 are not due for submission to the Department until 30 June 1989. Health authorities are free to retain such income, which by its nature is bound to vary from year to year, as a supplementary source of funds in order to meet their total annual expenditure. We do not collect information centrally on the specific purpose to which such monies have been put.