asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what was the approximate number of clerical staff employed in the National Health service in 1959 and in the latest year for which figures are available; and what was the number of hospital beds occupied per day in each of those years.

1974 is the latest year for which figures are available. The information requested is as below:

ENGLAND
	1959	1974
Clerical staff employed in the National Health Service	16,049	31,758
Hospital beds occupied per day	389,436	321,855
Discharges from NHS hospitals	3,782,731	5,171,706

NOTES:1. Clerical staff include higher clerical officers and clerical officers but exclude secretaries and typists. Staff figures are in whole-time equivalents.2. Figures exclude clerical staff employed on family practitioner services, Prescription Pricing Authority, Dental Estimates Board, primary health care and their counterparts prior to the reorganisation of the National Health Service on 1st April 1974.