§ Lord Dean of Beswickasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether, pursuant to the answer given in another place on 1 July [House of Commons Debates, col. 813] they can explain in detail the reason for the substantial difference for in-patient care costs between the North West Thames Regional Health Authority at £901 per patient and the Yorkshire Regional Health Authority at £602 per patient.
§ Baroness TrumpingtonThere are many factors which may contribute to variations in in-patient costs between one Hospital and another. They include the length of stay as an in-patient, the numbers and grades of staff employed, the costs arising from clinical teaching and, for hospitals in London, the London weighting allowances paid to staff. Since treatment is inherently costlier in some specialties than others, average costs may be influenced by variations in the proportion of patients treated in different specialties (specialty mix) as well as the higher cost of treating certain types of case within specialties. Detailed information about the effect of these and other factors on individual hospitals is not readily available centrally.