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Geriatric Patients (Accommodation)

Volume 805: debated on Tuesday 27 October 1970

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asked the Secretary of State for Social Services whether he will state for the years 1965 to 1969, inclusive, the number of geriatric patients who died whilst waiting for admission to a geriatric ward of a hospital.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services how many aged persons in 1969 had been waiting for 12 months or more to gain admission to a geriatric ward of a hospital.

Precise figures are not available. It is estimated from sample data obtained from the Hospital In-Patient Inquiry for 1967 for England and Wales that, of those patients admitted from a waiting list who were discharged from or who died in a hospital geriatric department in that year, approximately 0·7 per cent. had waited for admission for 12 months or more. The corresponding figure for chronic sick departments, in which most of the patients were elderly, was 1·5 per cent.; the figure for both categories combined was 0·9 per cent., i.e., about 300 patients. Figures for later years are not yet available.