§ Mr. Alexander W. Lyonasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what has been, and will be, the effects of the cuts in public expenditure amassed in the last two years in each of the health authority areas in relation to (a) the waiting time for beds in each of the medical categories of treatment, (b) the proportion of doctors, nurses, ancillary staff and cleaners to each patient in hospital, (c) the length of delay in dealing with those attending casualty wards or out-patient treatment. (d) the recruitment and training of nurses and doctors, (e) the provision of new hospital beds, (f) the improvement of existing general and mental hospitals, (g) the number of mentally ill patients treated in in-patient and out-patient services, (h) the number of jobs in hospital administration, and (i) the amount spent on new capital projects, respectively.
§ Mr. EnnalsI regret that I am not able to give the detailed information for which my hon. Friend asks. I cannot estimate what the levels of stalling or standards of performance would have been now or in the future in any particular area in England, had the health authority had more money in the last two years. I cannot, therefore, quantify effects of reductions made from previously planned national levels of expenditure, or of redistribution of resources within health regions.
As my hon. Friend will know, there has been a small real terms growth of 1.7 per cent. in 1976–77 and 1.5 per cent. in 1977–78 in resources allocated to hospital and community health services nationally. There has been an increase in recent years in the numbers of inpatients and day-patients treated in 384W National Health Service hospitals, in numbers of doctors and nurses in service, and in admissions to medical schools, and a reduction in the proportion of total expenditure devoted to management costs. It is, nevertheless, clear that the resources available to health authorities do not meet all needs for health care.