Patients stay in hospital half as long as they did in the 1970s

AVERAGE hospital stays have halved since the early 1970s, new research shows.

In 1973 the average stay of patients was almost 15 days, compared to just over seven days in 2002.

Stays for surgical procedures have also decreased by 50% - in 1973 the average stay was just over 10 days, reducing to just over five days in 2002.