HL Deb 25 February 2002 vol 631 cc186-7WA
Baroness Greengross

asked Her Majesty's Government:

What number and proportion of people over state retirement age were in hospital in 2001 for more than six weeks because of delayed discharge. [HL2617]

Lord Hunt of Kings Heath

This information is not collected in the detail requested. In September 2001 (the most recent data available) there were 2,789 patients of all ages occupying an "acute" hospital bed who had had their discharge delayed by 28 days or over. This is 2.6 per cent of the people who are in hospital at any one time.