§ The Countess of Marasked Her Majesty's Government:
Who is responsible for planning, the application for funds, and the allocation of those funds, where a hospital, or a department of a hospital is designated a "centre of excellence" and is entitled to supra-regional funding.
792WA
§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Health and Social Security (Lord Skelmersdale)Supra-regional services are the small number of specialised health services which, in order to be economically viable or clinically effective, need to be provided for a population substantially larger than that of any one health region.
Applications for supra-regional services designation and funding are made by regional and special health authorities to the Secretary of State for Social Services. These are considered by the supra regional services advisory group, which consists of representatives of the medical profession and National Health Service management and is chaired by a regional health authority chairman. The group is charged with advising the Secretary of State on the identification of services to be funded supra-regionally and on the appropriate level of provision. Final decisions rest with the Secretary of State. The announcement of supra-regional designation and funding for 1988–89 was made on 16th December 1987, and I am arranging for the full text to be sent to the noble Countess.