§ 11. Mr. Jim Cousins (Newcastle upon Tyne, Central)What steps he is taking to speed up financial flows in the NHS to hospital service providers. [116534]
§ The Secretary of State for Health (Mr. Alan Milburn)As my hon. Friend is aware, local primary care trusts now control 75 per cent. of the total NHS budget. In deciding where to spend that resource, it is important that PCTs do so in partnership with local hospitals and strategic health authorities. To that end, local negotiations over this year's budgets in most parts of the country are now complete.
§ Mr. CousinsI am grateful to my right hon. Friend for that answer, but he will of course understand that specialist hospitals, such as those in the north-east in Newcastle and Sunderland and on Teesside, may have dealings with up to 20 primary care organisations, some of which are quite slow in paying, with resulting problems; and that every improvement in those specialist services may have to be signed up to by up to 20 of those primary care organisations, with all sorts of slowing down of innovation and improvement. What can he say to hospitals in that position, which want to move on and to be sure that the money for service improvements is there?
§ Mr. MilburnMy hon. Friend is well aware, not least from his own close working relationship with the health service in Newcastle, that specialist hospital trusts, such as the Freeman and the Royal Victoria Infirmary in Newcastle, provide a range of services, which are, as he rightly says, not just district general hospital services, but more specialist tertiary services as well. Inevitably, therefore, those hospitals are in negotiation with a number of primary care trusts. In such situations, what normally happens is that one local PCT has the responsibility of becoming the lead commissioner and acts on behalf of a number of local PCTs. If that is not happening in my hon. Friend's area, I shall gladly look into the matter. He might also like to be aware that the NHS bank will shortly be conducting a review of how money flows around the system, precisely to ensure, first, that it gets to the front line, and secondly, that it does so in a timely way that does not jeopardise the provision of front-line patient services.
§ Mr. Henry Bellingham (North-West Norfolk)Does the Secretary of State agree that one of the keys to speeding up financial flows is the balance between management and front-line staff? Can he confirm his Department's figures showing that the number of qualified nurses in the NHS is 266,170? Is it true that, for the first time, that number has been overtaken by the 269,080 managers and support staff'?
§ Mr. MilburnI think that the hon. Gentleman is trying to count as managers and bureaucrats people in professions such as painters, decorators, gardeners and cleaners. With the best will in the world, not even he could believe that those people are bureaucrats.