§ 14. Mr. Gwilym Jonesasked the Secretary of State for Wales how the average cost of treatment per patient in South Glamorgan compares with the equivalent cost in 700 neighbouring health authorities and for all health authorities in Wales; and what assessment he has made of the implications of differing average costs of patient treatment for the numbers of patients treated in different health authority areas.
§ Mr. Mark RobinsonWith regard to comparative costs, I refer my hon. Friend to the reply that I gave him on 26 June. As to the implications for differing costs, the National Health Service director for Wales is discussing costs per standardised unit of work and cost improvement schemes with each authority during the current round of annual reviews.
§ Mr. JonesWhile I would not suggest that unit costs are all-important, they are relevant. Does my hon. Friend accept that if South Glamorgan health authority could achieve the same unit costs as the all-Wales average, according to figures which he has supplied to me, it would manage to treat an additional 10,000 patients a year?
§ Mr. RobinsonI note what my hon. Friend says. Obviously, the performance of south Glamorgan will be discussed in the annual reviews.