§ Mr. Dobsonasked the Secretary of State for Social Services by what criteria he chose the 37 health authorities which were investigated by his Department's auditors regarding the collection of private patient fees.
§ Mr. Kenneth ClarkeThe 10 principal auditors responsible for the audit of the accounts of Health Authorities in England were instructed to arrange for each of their three teams to visit at least one large hospital with potential private patient activity. The final choice was theirs, subject to the concurrence of the Director of Audit.
§ Mr. Dobsonasked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will arrange for his Department's auditors to investigate the collection of private patient fees in districts where this is requested(a) by the health authority or(b) by any of its members.
§ Mr. Kenneth ClarkeThe recent exercise conducted by the statutory auditors at the request of my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State revealed failure by some health authorities to comply with Departmental circulars and to maintain proper control. A list of the more important failures was appended to a letter I then sent to512W all health authority chairmen. In this letter all health authorities were required to review their arrangements and to take corrective action where necessary.
The statutory auditors examine, in the course of a prescribed cycle, the financial aspects of all the activities of health authorities and it would not be useful to interfere with this planned programme by placing the resources of the Audit Branch at the disposal of health authorities.