§ Mr. Robin CookTo ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will list the numbers of long-stay beds in the NHS in Scotland in 1990, broken down to show the numbers for the(a) elderly, (b) psychiatry, (c) learning difficulties and (d) chronic young sick, categories; what are the figures under these categories for 1 April; and if he will estimate in these categories the number of available long-stay beds in the NHS in Scotland by (i) 1 April 1998 and (ii) 1 April 2000. [3445]
§ Mr. Michael ForsythFuture bed numbers in each health board area are a matter for local determination based on a thorough assessment of local health needs.
The information requested for 1990 and 1995 is as follows:
173W
NHS and joint-user and contractual hospitals in Scotland— average available staffed NHS beds; by selected specialty; years ending 31 March 1990 1995 All selected beds 29,218 22,231 Geriatric long stay 9,132 7,442 Psychiatric specialities 14,407 11,034 Learning difficulties 5,283 3,468 Young chronic sick 396 287
- 1. The figures in the table relate to long stay beds for geriatric and young chronic sick patients, and to total beds for psychiatric and learning difficulty patients. Around 40 per cent. of psychiatric beds and 10 per cent. of learning difficulty beds are used for the care of short stay patients.
- 2. The figures show information on the average daily number of available staffed beds. This indicates the number of beds which are staffed and are available for the reception of in-patients and day cases.