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Mr. Robin Cook
To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many patients were treated in NHS hospitals in each year since 1970.
Mr. Dorrell
The information requested is given in the table.
| Hospital treatments | |||
| (thousands) | |||
| Year | In-patient treatments | day cases | Outpatient treatments |
| Discharges and deaths | |||
| 1970 | 5,011 | n/a | 32,355 |
| 1971 | 5,170 | n/a | 33,129 |
| 1972 | 5,222 | 376 | 33,243 |
| 1973 | 5,132 | 409 | 33,317 |
| 1974 | 5,172 | 451 | 33,352 |
| 1975 | 4,976 | 421 | 30,947 |
| 1976 | 6,255 | 481 | 32,396 |
| 1977 | 5,345 | 536 | 33,282 |
| 1978 | 5,370 | 562 | 33,950 |
| 1979 | 5,400 | 592 | 34,100 |
| 1980 | 5,670 | 671 | 35,243 |
| 1981 | 5,760 | 714 | 35,571 |
| 1982 | 5,720 | 706 | 35,651 |
| 1983 | 6,019 | 813 | 36,520 |
| 1984 | 6,178 | 903 | 37,043 |
| 1985 | 6,354 | 963 | 37,440 |
| 1986 | 6,414 | 1,050 | 37,728 |
| 1987–88 | 6,619 | 881 | 36,874 |
| 1988–89 | 6,586 | 1,016 | 36,146 |
| 1988–89 | 7,335* | 1,016 | 36,146 |
| 1989–90 | 7,447 | 1,163 | 36,336 |
| * From 1988–89 onwards, in-patient activity has been measured in terms of Finished Consultant Episodes, including figures for well babies being cared for in hospital. Previous statistics did not count these babies. | |||