§ Baroness Cumberlegeasked Her Majesty's Government:
What was the number of beds in NHS hospitals each year since 1948.
§ Baroness Jay of PaddingtonThe information is shown in the following table.
Table: average daily number of available beds in wards open overnight in NHS hospitals Year England Scotland Wales Northern Ireland Yearly Total 1949 —1 —2 23,503 — 23,503 1950 —1 —2 24,234 — 24,234 1951 —1 —2 24,435 — 24,435 1952 —1 —2 25,056 — 25,056 1953 —1 —2 25,675 — 25,675 1954 —1 —2 25,747 — 25,747 1955 —1 —2 25,992 — 25,992 1956 —1 —2 26,265 — 26,265 1957 —1 —2 26,498 — 26,498 1958 —1 —2 — — — 1959 —1 —2 26,436 — 26,436 1960 447,457 —2 26,258 — 473,715 1961 442,343 —2 27,086 — 469,429 1962 440,316 —2 27,212 — 467,528 1963 439,176 —2 27,381 — 466,557 1964 438,404 —2 27,374 — 465,778 1965 437,408 —2 27,124 — 464,532 1966 434,846 —2 26,840 — 461,686 1967 434,378 —2 26,841 — 461,219 1968 432,140 —2 26,734 — 458,874 1969 428,737 — 26,563 — 455,300 1970 423,621 62,888 26,110 — 512,619 1971 419,612 62,990 25,868 — 508,470 1972 412,664 62,642 25,622 — 500,928 1973 403,526 62,121 25,044 — 490,691 1974 396,235 61,850 24,707 — 482,792 1975 387,632 60,701 24,256 — 472,589 1976 383,132 60,411 24,059 — 467,602 1977 375,926 59,707 23,993 — 459,626 1978 369,235 59,081 23,708 — 452,024 1979 361,670 58,788 23,456 — 443,914 1980 355,978 58,334 23,203 — 437,515 1981 351,669 58,150 22,940 17,203 449,962 1982 348,104 57,928 22,441 — 428,473 1983 343,091 57,119 22,412 16,976 439,598 1984 334,513 57,342 22,295 16,715 430,865 1985 325,487 56,802 21.999 16,595 420,883 1986 315,714 55,955 21,565 15,962 409,196 1987–88 297,338 55,338 21,103 15,410 389,189 1988–89 282,897 54,487 20,504 14,684 372,572 1989–90 270,309 53,448 19,855 14,154 357,766 1990–91 255,479 52,121 19,414 13,487 340,501 1991–92 242,677 50,640 19,640 12,600 325,557 1992–93 232,201 48,738 18,078 11,712 310,729 1993–94 219,476 46,731 17,475 10,878 294,560 1994–95 211,812 44,186 16,834 10,356 283.188 1995–96 206,136 42,351 15,951 10,054 274.492 Notes:
England:
Moved to counting over the financial year rather than calendar year from 1987–88.
1 Information can only be provided at disproportionate cost.
Scotland:
2Information can only be provided at disproportionate cost. Information on average available staffed beds in Scotland indicates the average daily number of beds which are staffed and available for the reception of inpatients and day cases. Borrowed and temporary beds are included. Figures are shown from 1970-figures for earlier years are not readily available.
Wales:
Moved to counting over the financial year rather than calendar year from 1983–84.
159WANorthern Ireland:
Moved to counting over the financial year than 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.