To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to her answer of 5 February, Official Report, column 381, how many (a) beds and (b) nurses were available in each year since 1979.

The information is shown in the table.

Total numbers of average available beds and nursing and midwifery staff in the NHS—England 1979–1990–91
Years	Average available beds	Nurses and midwives (excl agency) (whole-time equivalent)
1979	361,670	354,420
1980	355,980	365,900
1981	351,500	388,010
1982	348,100	394,040
1983	343,090	394,690
1984	334,510	393,740
1985	325,490	397,030
1986	315,710	397,240
1987–88	297,340	397,910
1988–89	282,900	397,840
1989–90	270,310	398,050
1990–91	255,440	395,360
1991–92	242,360	392,200

1. All figures are rounded to the nearest ten except for the 1980 nurses and midwives figure which is rounded to the nearest hundred.2. From 1987 onwards, the daily available beds figure is averaged over the year whereas the nurses and midwives figures are as at September of each year.3.