§ 3. Mr. Hirstasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what has been the growth in real terms in the funding of the National Health Service since 1979 to the latest convenient date; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. FowlerSpending on the Health Service in Great Britain has risen from £7.75 billion in 1978–79 to £17.5 747 billion in 1985–86. That is an increase of 21 per cent. in real terms. Over the same period, public expenditure generally has increased by only 10 per cent. We plan further real increases in health spending in each of the next three years. These figures demonstrate the Government's continuing commitment to improving the National Health Service.
§ Mr. HirstI am grateful to my right hon. Friend for his reply. Does he agree that it completely rebuts the claim of those who assert that the Government have imposed cuts on the Health Service, and shows that in recent years the only Government who did so were the Labour Government? Will he take this opportunity to remind Health Concern and others that inefficiency and waste in the operation of the Health Service are the enemies of proper patient care?
§ Mr. FowlerI entirely agree with what my hon. Friend has said. I also agree that the challenge to the Health Service is to use its resources to the fullest extent. My hon. Friend is also right to say that the Labour Government presided over cuts in the Health Service. They were the largest capital cuts in the history of the Health Service, never mind in the last 10 years.
§ Mr. KennedyThe Secretary of State talks about the Government's expenditure on the Health Service. Will he clarify exactly what measurement of inflation is taken into account? Is it the retail prices index, or the internal mechanisms of inflation within the Health Service, which, for reasons of technological pressure and demographic change, are significantly higher?
§ Mr. FowlerThe measurement is the RPI, as I said in my answer, and that is the effective measure of the resources that the Government have to make available. But there is also an increase compared with NHS pay and price increases. However the hon. Gentleman wishes to calculate the figures, the fact is that this Government are devoting more resources to the Health Service than any other Government in history.
§ Dr. MawhinneyIn addition to the welcome real increase in growth in the Health Service, how much extra money has been made available for patient care as a consequence of the Government's policy of requiring health authorities to use the money more cost effectively?
§ Mr. FowlerThe Health Service is at present providing about £150 million a year from cost improvements. That illustrates that the Health Service is now using resources more effectively than at any stage in its history.
§ Mr. PavittIs the right hon. Gentleman aware that the figures he gave reveal savings but no efficiency? Let me give three examples. First, because of a cut in the number of acute beds, three hospitals in this region are taking their emergency cases to three teaching hospitals not far from this place. Secondly, two hospitals in my constituency have been closed. Thirdly, because of the Government's privatisation policies, I know of two hospitals in which patients are scrubbing out the lavatories.
§ Mr. FowlerMore resources are being devoted to the Health Service, but a better measurement is the use made of those resources, which shows that the Health Service is now treating more inpatients, more day patients and more outpatient cases than ever before —dramatically more than when the Labour Government were in power.
§ Mr. Robert B. JonesIs my right hon. Friend aware that the new hospital now being built in Hemel Hempstead was cancelled by the previous Labour Government? Is he further aware that within over-resourced regions there are areas that are suffering from lack of resources? When will he make more resources available to those areas, at the expense of the over-resourced areas in inner London?
§ Mr. FowlerThe policy of reallocating resources is continuing. I do not think that there is any disagreement in the House about that. My hon. Friend is right about capital spending. The Government have restored the capital programme, and we shall now develop it further.
§ Mr. DubsIs the Secretary of State aware that many people who live in deprived inner city areas, especially inner London, will fail to understand what he has said today, when all around them they see ward and hospital closures?
§ Mr. FowlerI am sure that the hon. Gentleman will explain to them the reallocation of resources proposal which was supported by the Labour party and with which, as far as I know, the Opposition spokesman on health matters does not disagree. The policy aims to put resources where people are. That is sensible.
§ Mr. ConwayIs my right hon. Friend aware that Shropshire warmly welcomes the substantial increase in health spending, especially in hospital provision? Will he give a thought to the speed with which the region transfers resources to the area health authority to take account of the fact that Shropshire now has the fastest growing population in the west midlands?
§ Mr. FowlerThat is one of the issues about which I shall talk to the regional chairman of the west midlands.
§ Dr. MarekSo that the British people can make a balanced judgment on these figures, will the Secretary of State now dare to write to the chairmen of district health authorities and ask whether they have sufficient funds to provide adequate funding of the NHS in 1986–87, and publish the replies?
§ Mr. FowlerIt would be more useful to do what we are already doing—[Interruption.] Rather than write, we prefer to talk to them. That is what we are doing. We do not believe in government by circular, which is what the Labour party stands for. As far as I am aware, district health authority chairmen understand our policy a darned sight better than does the Opposition spokesman.