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Mrs. Dunwoody
asked the Secretary of State for Social Services how many days have been lost in strike action, and how many people have been involved in strike action, in the National Health Service in each year since 1975.
Mr. Geoffrey Finsberg
The following table gives the estimated number of days lost through industrial action in the National Health Service in the United Kingdom since 1975, as compiled by the Department of Employment.
| Number of staff involved | Number of days lost | |
| 1975 | 6,000 | 20,000 |
| 1976 | 4,440 | 15,000 |
| 1977 | 2,970 | 8,200 |
| 1978 | 3,700 | 15,000 |
| 1979 | 39,200 | 621,000 |
| 1980 | 14,000 | 41,000 |
| 1981 | 16,400 | 44,000 |
| *1982 | †600,000 | †3,130,000 |
| * 9 months. | ||
| † Provisional. | ||
| £ 000's | ||||||
| Region | 1975–76 | 1976–77 | 1977–78 | 1978–79 | 1979–80 | 1980–81 |
| Northern | 247 | 262 | 325 | 362 | 472 | 642 |
| Yorkshire | 96 | 320 | 264 | 462 | 565 | 746 |
| Trent | 180 | 270 | 374 | 468 | 527 | 678 |
| East Anglian | 68 | 105 | 146 | 205 | 231 | 232 |
| North West Thames | 154 | 230 | 219 | 459 | 576 | 763 |
| North East Thames | 267 | 400 | 384 | 432 | 528 | 604 |
| South East Thames | N/A | 347 | 430 | 472 | 551 | 734 |
| South West Thames | 127 | 186 | 362 | 311 | 288 | 584 |
| Wessex | 90 | 214 | 244 | 317 | 372 | 509 |
| Oxford | 176 | 222 | 219 | 308 | 381 | 429 |
| South Western | 31 | 87 | 147 | 260 | 345 | 425 |
| West Midlands | 198 | 355 | 378 | 452 | 582 | 728 |
| Mersey | 48 | 49 | 105 | 132 | 161 | 216 |
| North Western | 155 | 204 | 258 | 176 | 539 | 901 |