HC Deb 12 February 2004 vol 417 c1694W
Mr. Hoyle

To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many NHS(a) general and (b) acute hospital beds there were in (i) Chorley and (ii) Preston in each of the last three years. [153849]

Miss Melanie Johnson

Information on the number of general and acute beds is collected annually from each national health service trust and primary care trust. Information is not available for geographical areas.

The average daily number of available general and acute beds, by NHS trust, is shown in the table.

or information which it did not already hold. This approach is in line with the Open Government Code of Practice on Access to Government Information, and is consistent with the relationship between the Department and National Health Service organisations following the "Shifting the Balance of Power" initiative.