§ 16. Mr. TrimbleTo ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will give the number of beds for the continuing care of the elderly in 1979 and currently.
§ Mr. DorrellThe average daily number of available geriatric beds in national health service hospitals in England fell from 55,000 in 1979 to 49,000 in 1989–90—the latest figures available. These figures include all beds under the supervision of a geriatric consultant; beds for long-stay patients are not separately identified.
In the same period, the numbers of elderly patients treated rose from 243,000 to 447,000.