Lord Lucasasked Her Majesty's Government:
What has been the average daily number of available acute beds each year since 1970.
§ Baroness Jay of PaddingtonThe information is shown in the following table.
Table: average daily number of available acute beds in NHS hospitals (000's) Year England Scotland Wales Northern Ireland Yearly total 1970 162 33 13 — 208 1971 162 33 13 — 208 1972 162 33 11 — 206 1973 160 33 11 — 204 1974 160 33 11 — 204 1975 157 31 11 — 199 1976 157 32 to — 199 1977 154 32 10 — 196 1978 152 32 10 — 194 1979 149 32 10 — 191 1980 146 32 10 — 188 1981 145 32 10 10 197 1982 144 32 10 — 186 1983 142 31 10 10 193 1984 139 32 10 10 191 1985 136 32 10 10 188 1986 133 31 10 9 183 1987–88 128 31 9 9 177 1988–89 123 31 9 9 172 1989–90 121 31 9 8 169 1990–91 117 31 9 8 165 1991–92 115 30 9 8 162 1992–93 113 29 9 7 158 1993–94 110 29 8 7 154 1994–95 108 28 9 7 152 1995–96 108 27 8 6 149 Notes:
England:
Moved to counting over the financial year rather than calendar year from 1987–88.
Scotland:
Wales:
Moved to counting over the financial year rather than calendar year from 1983–84.
Northern Ireland:
Moved to counting over the financial year rather calendar year from 1988–89.
Complete information is not available for 1982 due to an industrial dispute.
Information before 1981, if available, can only be provided at disproportionate cost.