§ Mr. ChisholmTo ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many patients, in each of the last five years, were readmitted to hospital within three months of leaving, in each health board area. [37337]
§ Lord James Douglas-HamiltonThe total number of patients readmitted to hospital within three months of discharge for the last five available years is given in the table. Over the same period, total discharges increased by almost 21 per cent. The reason for a patient being readmitted is not necessarily related to the reason for original admission. The longer after discharge that a patient is readmitted, the less likely it is that the reasons are related.
Health board 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 Argyll and Clyde 11,005 12,517 14,063 15,788 16,092 Ayrshire and Arran 9,973 11,110 13,204 15,933 16,106 Borders 2,829 2,983 3,420 3,781 4,125 Dumfries and Galloway 4,180 4,632 5,175 5,795 6,243 Fife 8,245 9,510 10,544 10,643 11,811 Forth Valley 8,577 9,727 10,235 10,478 10,448 Grampian 16,975 17,445 18,584 19,194 20,300 Greater Glasgow 54,412 53,707 57,881 65,211 68,451 Highland 6,190 6,537 7,548 7,839 8,776 Lanarkshire 15,544 16,807 18,662 21,422 22,694 Lothian 31,448 34,256 34,442 43,630 48,019 Orkney 355 453 439 426 500 Shetland 620 627 687 768 771 Tayside 15,633 16,303 16,890 18,835 20,386 Western Isles 782 866 971 999 1,065 Scotland 186,768 197,480 216,745 240,742 255,787