§ Mr. BreedTo ask the Secretary of State for Health how many(a) hospitals and (b) other health care services, by category, there were in rural areas, broken down by (i) constituency and (ii) local authority for each year since 1990. [24898]
§ Mr. HuttonThere are more than 300 national health service trusts, and 164 primary care trusts that provide health care services. Many cover both rural and urban areas. While NHS bodies operate within geographic boundaries of most local authorities, they do not do so in all cases, and do not always follow constituency boundaries.
Data collected by the Department do not identify the constituency or local authority boundaries, or whether they cover 'rural' areas. Therefore, the information is not available and could be collected only at disproportionate cost.