HL Deb 07 July 1997 vol 581 cc63-4WA
Lord Lucas

asked Her Majesty's Government:

With reference to the statement in the Labour Party manifesto that "a greater proportion of every pound spent will go on patient care not bureaucracy", what proportion is presently spent on patient care; and what the job titles are of those all or part of whose salaries are allocated to (a) patient care and (b) administration.

Baroness Jay of Paddington

The National Health Service Executive has agreed measures of NHS management costs in trusts, health authorities and general practitioner fundholding practices.

The proportions of NHS expenditure estimated to have been spent on health authority and trust management costs and general practitioner fundholding management allowances in England, Scotland and Wales in 1996–97 are shown in the table.

Table: NHS management costs in 1996–97
Estimated outturn figures for 1996–97
NHS NHS NHS
management costs1 net current expenditure2 management as a proportion of total
Country £ million £ million
England 1,831 31,357 5.8%
Scotland 209 3,831 5.5%
Wales 118 1,605 7.4%
Great Britain 2,158 36,793 5.9%

Outturn figures for 1995–96, the latest year available
HPSS management costs3 in 1995–96 HPSS expenditure4 in 1995–96 HPSS management costs as a proportion of total
£ million £ million
Northern Ireland 90 1,366 6.6%

Notes:

1 NHS management costs are composed of HA and trust management costs and GPFH management allowances.

2 Figures for NHS net current expenditure do not include any departmental administration costs. Departmental administration includes non-NHS departmental expenditure on, for example, social care policy and ministerial and parliamentary support.

3 Northern Ireland's HPSS (health and personal social services) management costs are composed of:

  • —HPSS boards' management costs as set out in note 5.1 of their 1995–96 summarised accounts;
  • —HPSS trusts' management costs as per the trust M2 definition;
  • —GPFH management allowances.

4 The Northern Ireland 1995–96 HPSS expenditure figure is taken from the HPSS boards' summarised accounts.

Health and personal social services (HPSS) are provided in Northern Ireland under an integrated structure. NHS management costs are not separately identifiable from the total HPSS management costs incurred by health and social services and trusts in Northern Ireland. The figures for Northern Ireland given in the table are therefore not directly comparable with those for the other home countries.