§ Mr. HoyleTo ask the Secretary of State for Health how many children from Chorley and South Ribble district were treated at Preston general hospital in the last year for which figures are available. [9856]
§ Mr. MilburnThe current basic unit for measuring hospital activity is the finished consultant episode. FCEs are not the same as the number of patients treated because a hospital spell can consist of more than one FCE, and patients discharged too early who are subsequently readmitted as emergencies count as another FCE. Furthermore, an FCE count cannot by itself serve as a valid measure of productivity since it is not standardised over time for any changes in the quality of treatment.
In 1993–94, the last year of the Chorley and South Ribble DHA, there were 5,667 such episodes for children aged up to 16 recorded for the acute unit of the former Preston health authority. The total for people of all ages was 28,236.
The former Chorley and South Ribble and West Lancashire district health authorities merged in 1994.
The most recent figures are for 1994–95, when 5,854 episodes for children aged up to 16 from the South Lancashire health authority area were recorded for Preston Acute Hospitals NHS Trust. The total for people of all ages was 28,535.
Source: Department of Health. Hospital Episode Statistics.