§ Mr. McKelveyasked the Secretary of State for Scotland how much is spent per head of population in the National Health Service in each health board area; and what is the equivalent figure for Scotland.
§ Mr. John MacKayGross expenditure per capita by the Scottish health boards for the year to 31 March 1983 is set out in the following table. Per capita expenditure on health in Scotland as a whole for that year amounted to £314.
350W
Expenditure per head of population Health Board £ Argyll and Clyde 270.20 Ayrshire and Arran 220.95 Borders 251.79 Dumfries and Galloway 268.45 Fife 231.57 Forth Valley 263.67 Grampian 265.73 Greater Glasgow 388.87 Highland 312.18 Lanarkshire 227.37 Lothian 332.18 Orkney 227.66 Shetland 280.44 Tayside 351.64 Western Isles 252.85 These figures do not include expenditure on support services provided by the Common Services Agency and on centrally financed services, which together amounted to £16.71 per capita in Scotland as a whole.
§ Mr. Millanasked the Secretary of State for Scotland whether he will review the SHARE formula for the distribution of resources to area health boards, in particular to take account of the special problems of social deprivation.
§ Mr. YoungerI am satisfied that the operation of the SHARE formula in its present form is achieving the objective of removing inequity in the funding of health boards. I do not propose meantime to make changes in the make-up of the formula. It has not so far proved possible to identify a factor which measures separately the demands generated by social deprivation and distinguishes them from demands related to other factors such as morbidity which are already taken into account. The application of the formula is revised regularly however in the light of the latest available data about population and other factors which determine demand for health care.