§ Mr. Matthew TaylorTo ask the Secretary of State for Health how many(a) intensive and (b) critical care beds there are planned to be for the three years of the Comprehensive Spending Review. [108168]
§ Mr. DenhamThis year there are 1,591 adult intensive care beds within a total of 2,362 critical care beds, according to fast track management information collected on 17 January 2000. As the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health, my hon. Friend the Member for Birmingham Edgbaston (Ms Stuart) announced on 1 February 2000,Official Report, column 903; this represents an increase of 122 on the number at 31 March 1999. Numbers for 2000–01 and 2001–02 will be determined following the outcome of the thoroughgoing review of critical care services and in the light of local planning.
§ Mr. Matthew TaylorTo ask the Secretary of State for Health how many(a) critical care and (b) intensive care beds there were in NHS hospitals in each of the last 10 years. [108224]
§ Mr. DenhamInformation on the average daily number of beds by ward type for each National Health Service trust is published annually in "Bed Availability and Occupancy, England" and is available in the Library. As wards classified as "intensive care" can also contain other types of beds we have introduced a new census focusing specifically on adult intensive care and high-dependency care beds. National and regional information from the first census taken in March 1999 is in the Library. The full results will be published in due course.