To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many and which community health councils in Wales have made representations to him opposing the National Health Service White Paper "Working for Patients".
The White Paper includes a wide range of measures to improve the organisation and management of the NHS so as to maximise patient care. Community health councils are in frequent correspondence with the Department about many issues. In recent months many such representations have concerned one or more aspects of individual White Paper proposals, and have included views supporting or expressing concern about them. It would be possible only at disproportionate expense to analyse these in the manner requested by the hon. Gentleman.
To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what is the number of National Health Service beds available for the elderly in each Welsh health authority area from 1985 to 1988 inclusive.
The number of beds in specialities designated as geriatric, psychogeriatric and elderly mentally infirm is shown in the following table. Elderly patients can, however, be treated in beds allocated to other specialities.
| Average daily available beds | ||||
| Health authority | 1985 | 1986 | 1987 | 1988 |
| Clwyd | 585·1 | 590·6 | 562·9 | 534·0 |
| East Dyfed | 417·6 | 419·5 | 409·9 | 404·9 |
| Gwent | 981·2 | 973·2 | 966·9 | 958·9 |
| Gwynedd | 438·5 | 446·3 | 443·4 | 451·1 |
| Mid Glamorgan | 920·8 | 923·2 | 938·1 | 805·9 |
| Pembrokeshire | 134·4 | 134·5 | 126·4 | 126·6 |
| Powys | 238·0 | 220·3 | 206·2 | 220·5 |
| South Glamorgan | 460·6 | 463·9 | 455·9 | 455·8 |
| West Glamorgan | 503·9 | 461·6 | 481·5 | 470·5 |
To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many general practitioner practices in Wales have more than 11,000 patients; and where they are situated.
At June 1989 there were 39 practices in Wales with more than 11,000 patients. The location of the main surgery of these practices is shown in the table:
| Location | Number of practices |
| Rhyl, Clwyd | 1 |
| Wrexham, Clwyd | 3 |
| Prestatyn, Clwyd | 1 |
| Mold, Clwyd | 1 |
| Buckley, Clwyd | 1 |
| Gresford, Clwyd | 1 |
| Abergele, Clwyd | 1 |
| Carmarthen, Dyfed | 1 |
| Haverfordwest, Dyfed | 1 |
| Caldicot, Gwent | 1 |
| Monmouth, Gwent | 1 |
| Newport, Gwent | 3 |
| Amlwch, Gwynedd | 1 |
| Llandudno, Gwynedd | 1 |
| Bedwas, Mid Glamorgan | 1 |
| Bridgend, Mid Glamorgan | 2 |
| Church Village, Mid Glamorgan | 1 |
| Pontypridd, Mid Glamorgan | 2 |
| Dowlais, Mid Glamorgan | 1 |
| Merthyr Tydfil, Mid Glamorgan | 1 |
| Porthcawl, Mid Glamorgan | 1 |
| Caerphilly, Mid Glamorgan | 1 |
| Ystradmynach, Mid Glamorgn | 1 |
| Ystradgynlais, Powys | 1 |
| Brecon, Powys | 1 |
| Newtown, Powys | 1 |
| Cardiff, South Glamorgan | 4 |
| Barry, South Glamorgan | 1 |
| Gowerton, West Glamorgan | 1 |
| Swansea, West Glamorgan | 1 |
To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many long-term patients have been discharged from psychiatric hospitals in Wales in every year since 1985 in each area health authority in Wales.
The number of patient discharges following a stay of one year or more, is shown in the following table:
| Patient discharges from mental illness hospitals or units | ||||
| 1985 | 1986 | 1987 | 1988 | |
| Clwyd | 65 | 44 | 47 | 63 |
| East Dyfed | 30 | 42 | 46 | 43 |
| Pembrokeshire | — | — | — | — |
1985
| 1986
| 1987
| 1988
| |
| Gwent | 46 | 42 | 56 | 53 |
| Gwynedd | — | 4 | 4 | 2 |
| Mid Glamorgan | 33 | 55 | 41 | 51 |
| Powys | 6 | 6 | 17 | 12 |
| South Glamorgan | 39 | 26 | 35 | 43 |
| West Glamorgan | 31 | 31 | 47 | 44 |
Patient discharges from mental handicap hospitals or units
| ||||
| Clwyd | 1 | 3 | 5 | 8 |
| East Dyfed | 3 | 1 | — | — |
| Pembrokeshire | 4 | 5 | 3 | 10 |
| Gwent | 7 | 10 | 33 | 12 |
Mental illness 1
| Mental handicap
| |||||
Number of beds
| Changes in number
| Number of beds
| Changes in number
| |||
1985
| 1988
| 1985–88
| 1985
| 1988
| 1985–88
| |
| Clwyd | 657·3 | 558·0 | - 99·3 | 92·0 | 62·7 | -29·3 |
| East Dyfed | 577·3 | 492·3 | - 85·0 | 71·0 | 32·0 | -39·0 |
| Gwent | 931·0 | 883·0 | - 48·0 | 421·7 | 374·7 | -47·0 |
| Gwynedd | 46·5 | 92·2 | + 45·7 | 333·2 | 325·7 | - 7·5 |
| Mid Glamorgan | 1,197·0 | 1,031·3 | -165·7 | 488·2 | 420·0 | -68·2 |
| Pembrokeshire | — | — | — | 32·0 | 32·0 | — |
| Powys | 335·0 | 323·0 | 12·0 | 209·5 | 196·1 | -13·4 |
| South Glamorgan | 687·8 | 654·6 | - 33·2 | 411·1 | 384·3 | -26·8 |
| West Glamorgan | 406·6 | 371·2 | - 35·4 | 142·5 | 80·0 | -62·5 |
1 Includes mental illness, mental illness (children), adolescent psychiatry, psychogeriatric and elderly mentally infirm. | ||||||
To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many representations he has received from general practitioners in Wales (a) opposing and (b) supporting the National Health Service White Paper "Working for Patients".
I refer the hon. Gentleman to my reply of 6 December to the hon. Member for Ynys Mon (Mr. Jones).
| Aged 75–84 inclusive | Aged 85 and over | |||
| 1988 population county | In thousands | Per cent.1 | In thousands | Per cent.1 |
| Clwyd | 24·3 | 6·0 | 6·5 | 1·6 |
| Dyfed | 20·6 | 5·9 | 5·1 | 1·5 |
| Gwent | 22·5 | 5·0 | 5·7 | 1·3 |
| Gwynedd | 15·9 | 6·7 | 4·5 | 1·9 |
| Mid Glamorgan | 26·5 | 4·9 | 6·0 | 1·1 |
| Powys | 7·1 | 6·1 | 1·7 | 1·5 |
| South Glamorgan | 20·5 | 5·1 | 5·9 | 1·5 |
| West Glamorgan | 20·9 | 5·7 | 5·3 | 1·5 |
| 1As a percentage of total population of each county. | ||||
Source: OPCS mid year estimates of population.