§ 5. Mr. Ian BruceTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate he has made of the number of administrative and management staff who will need to be made redundant in Dorset health authority to reduce management costs to the Government target level. [408]
§ Mr. MilburnWe are in the process of developing our strategy to maximise the proportion of NHS resources devoted to patient care.
§ Mr. BruceI congratulate the hon. Gentleman on his thoughtful answer, but will he address the question that I 495 asked him? As an example, may I tell him that Dorset Community NHS trust is trying to cut £200,000 off its budget to get down to the administration target that was set by the previous Government? The present Government will be asking for £1 million to come out. How will that affect administrative staff? Will not it mean hundreds of people losing their jobs?
§ Mr. MilburnIf I were the hon. Gentleman, I would exercise a bit of caution about lecturing Labour Members on bureaucracy, because his party left the NHS with 20,000 more managers and 50,000 fewer nurses. Our priority is to ensure that NHS staff are in the business of treating patients, not chasing contracts. That is our priority and it is the public's priority.
§ Mr. Barry JonesDoes my hon. Friend intend to increase the number of nurses in hospital wards?
§ Madam SpeakerOrder. The hon. Gentleman knows better. The substantive question deals with Dorset health authority.