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Mr. Tom Clarke
To ask the Secretary of State for Social Services, pursuant to the reply to the hon. Member for Monklands, West on 15 March, Official Report, column 552, if he will provide information on what proportions of elderly people aged 75-plus years, and what proportions of those aged 85-plus years are (a) housebound, (b) bedfast, (c) unable to negotiate stairs independently, (d) unable to bath, shower or wash all over alone, and (e) unable to go to the toilet unaided.
Mrs. Currie
The most recent information available is from the 1985 general household survey. Among those aged 75 and over, and 85 and over, included in the sample inverviewed for the survey, it showed the proportion of people who :
| Aged 75 and over Percentage | Aged 85 and over Percentage | |
| (a) Were not able to go out of doors | 14·1 | 32·5 |
| (b) Need help to get in and out of bed | 3·2 | 6·3 |
| Could not get in and out of bed at all | 0·5 | 1·2 |
| (c) Need help to negotiate stairs | 6·0 | 11·6 |
| Could not negotiate stairs at all | 9·6 | 19·4 |
| (d) Need help to bath, shower or wash all over | 12·8 | 25·2 |
| Could do none of these tasks | 2.3 | 5·4 |
| (e) Need help to get to the toilet | 2·0 | 4·7 |
| Could not get to the toilet at all | 0·9 | 2·0 |