HL Deb 14 October 1997 vol 582 cc159-60WA
Baroness Cumberlege

asked Her Majesty's Government:

What was the number of inpatient cases per available bed each year since 1970.

Baroness Jay of Paddington

The information is shown in the following table.

Table: number of inpatient cases per available bed in NHS hospitals
Year England Scotland Wales Northern Ireland Yearly Total
1970 —1 11.1 12.2 — 23.3
1971 —1 11.3 12.5 — 23.8
1972 —1 11.6 12.8 — 24.4
1973 —1 11.4 12.8 — 24.2
1974 14.5 11.6 13.3 — 39.4
1975 14.3 11.5 13.2 — 39.0
1976 15.3 12.2 14.1 — 41.6
1977 15.8 12.5 14.3 — 42.6
1978 16.2 12.5 14.7 — 43.4
1979 16.6 12.6 14.9 — 44.1
1980 17.7 13.1 15.8 — 46.6
1981 18.3 13.5 16.4 15.2 63.4
1982 18.3 13.7 16.5 — 48.5
1983 19.5 13.0 17.8 15.9 66.2
1984 20.5 14.0 18.6 16.5 69.6
1985 21.7 14.5 19.5 17.5 73.2
1986 22.6 15.0 20.2 18.2 76.0
1987–88 24.8 15.2 21.6 19.1 80.7
1988–89 25.9 16.0 22.3 20.7 84.9
1989–90 27.7 16.5 23.9 21.9 90.0
1990–91 29.5 17.2 24.9 23.3 94.9
1991–92 32.0 18.0 25.5 26.1 101.6
1992–93 33.7 18.9 27.9 29.3 109.8
1993–94 36.4 20.2 29.1 33.9 119.6
1994–95 38.1 21.6 30.5 37.5 127.7
1995–96 40.6 22.7 32.3 39.8 135.4

Notes:

Finished consultant episodes (FCE's) 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. Further more, an FCE count cannot by itself serve as a valid measure of productivity since it is not standardised over the time for any changes in the quality of treatment.

England:

Moved to counting over the financial year rather than calendar year from 1987–88.

1 Figures for FCE's in these years are available only at disproportionate cost. In England the number of inpatient FCE's per available bed differs from information published in table 2 of the Statistical Bulletin NHS hospital activity statistics: England 1985 to 1995–96.Figures in the bulletin exclude well babies while the above figures include well babies. This is to ensure comparability as it was not possible to calculate figures excluding well babies back to 1974.

Scotland:

Wales:

Moved to counting over the financial year rather than calendar year from 1983–84

Northern Ireland:

Moved to counoting over the financial year rather than calendar year from 1988–99.

Complete information is not available for 1982 due to an industrial dispute.

Information before 1981, if available, can only be provided at disproportionate cost.