Patients

HC Deb 28 February 1995 vol 255 c492W

Mr. Pawsey

To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many patients are currently treated in the NHS; and what was the figure in 1979.

Mr. Sackville

Information is not available centrally in the precise form requested. The available information is shown in the table:

General and acute specialties
thousands
	Out-Patients first attendances	Hospital admissions
1979	6,771	14,993 discharges and deaths
1993–94	8,832	8,205 finished consultant episodes

Note:

¹Recording of in-patient activity changed in 1988–89 following a review of Health Services Information. As a result in-patient figures prior to 1988–89 are not directly comparable with later years.

Sources:

1979, SH3 returns; 1993–94, KHO9 and KP70 returns.