§ Chris RuaneTo ask the Secretary of State for Health how many patients were treated in the(a) NHS and (b) private sector (i) in total and (ii) as a percentage, in each of the last 10 years. [30565]
§ Mr. HuttonI apologise to my hon. Friend for the delay in responding to this question. I refer him to the reply that my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State gave my hon. Friend the Member for Blackpool, North and Fleetwood (Mrs. Humble) on 5 March 2002,Official Report, at column 192W.
This information is not available in the form requested.
1008WInformation on the numbers of NHS patients treated by hospitals in England is available from Hospital Episodes Statistics, published by the Department of Health. The Department of Health does not collect information on the overall number of patients treated in private hospitals.