HC Deb 23 February 1993 vol 219 cc535-6W
29. Ms. Abbott

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment she has made of the need to increase or reduce the supply of hospital beds in London.

Dr. Mawhinney

The demand for hospital beds in London in the future will depend both on improvements in efficiency and primary services, and on how many patients are treated locally rather than being referred to London. While it is impossible to predict precisely the speed of these changes, in our policy document "Making London Better" we made a cautious estimate of 2,000 to 2,500 fewer acute beds in four to five years' time.