HC Deb 29 June 1976 vol 914 cc186-8
15. Mr. Giles Shaw

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will give detailed advice to area health authorities on how they may cut back their revenue expenditure.

10. Lord James Douglas-Hamilton

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what plans he has to advise area health authorities on the cost-effective use of limited resources.

Mr. Ennals

Over the years my Department has provided health authorities with a wide range of detailed guidance on the most effective use of the resources available to them. This guidance is continually being revised and added to and covers management techniques such as cost control and purchasing procedures, organisation and management studies, and advice on the organisation and development of patient care services, including ways in which the health care professions should be involved in the planning and management of these services. The recently published consultative document on priorities for health and personal social services suggests a number of areas for particular scrutiny by health authorities.

Mr. Shaw

I thank the right hon. Gentleman for his answer. Does he agree that in present circumstances, guidance on what would happen if regional authorities were to overspend their budgets is important? Do the Government expect regional health authorities which overspend to have to cut down on their medical and nursing staff, and so on?

Mr. Ennals

It is certainly necessary for both regional health authorities and area health authorities to live within their budgets, just as it is important that the National Health Service should live within its budget. We are faced with a situation, partly due to reorganisation carried out by the previous Government, in which the administration has become too heavy. Health authorities have already agreed to reduce the cost of managerial staffs, or to try to hold the cost at current figures. I shall be sending out a letter this week to area health authorities giving further advice on how to slim their administration.

Mr. Cryer

Does my right hon. Friend agree that it would be undesirable for any area health authority to cut down on staff, particularly at this time of very high unemployment? Does he further agree that the crocodile tears from the opposition about public expenditure always disappear when they talk about defence? Is it not the job of the Labour Government to make sure that we get our priorities right, and transfer some of the massive amount of defence expenditure to the monument to Socialism which the National Health Service represents?

Mr. Ennals

I hope that my hon. Friend will agree that, in a general period of planning standstill, we have got our priorities right in regard to public expenditure. We have planned for the National Health Service to continue its growth. This is admittedly low—at 1.8 per cent. annually, and 2 per cent. in regard to personal social services. We are leaving room for an element of growth, and I think we must do so because of the priority we give to the National Health Service.

Mr. Patrick Jenkin

Is not one of the major anxieties of area health authorities, on the revenue account, how to meet the additional bill for junior hospital doctors? Will the Secretary of State undertake to make a statement to the House quite shortly about the junior hospital doctors' pay negotiations, including an explanation of the way in which the area health authorities are to find the money necessary to meet the undertakings given by his Department?

Mr. Ennals

It is, of course, for area health authorities to determine how much of doctors' time they contract to pay. The responsibility lies with area health authorities. I shall certainly deal with the matter in answer to a Question or, if I feel it necessary, be prepared to inform the House of the outcome of the current negotiations to complete the new contract for junior hospital doctors.