While there has been a substantial degree of adverse comment about the health service, no one can deny the system is providing more and better services than ever before. Activity in our acute hospitals continues to rise. In 2002 alone there were 963,000 in-patient discharges as against 785,000 in 1997, an increase of 178,000 in-patients. In other words, we had discharged or treated 178,000 more people at the end of 2002. This must be taken on board when discussing the health service if we are to get some sense of balance and perspective in the debate. The 2002 figure represents approximately 2,600 patients being discharged each day of the year, an overall increase of nearly 5% on the number of discharges in 2001.