§ Mr. Nicholas WintertonTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what was the total cost of food purchased by NHS hospitals in each region in the last year for which figures are available.
§ Mr. DorrellInformation derived from the annual accounts of regional and district health authorities in England is shown in the table.
Revenue expenditure on Hospital and Community Health Services (HCHS)—Provisions—1989–90 Region £000 (cash) Northern 14,487 Yorkshire 15,718 Trent 17,945 East Anglian 8,566 North West Thames 14,784 North East Thames 19,886 South East Thames 15,917 South West Thames 13,676 Wessex 11,527 Oxford 8,668 South Western 12,950 West Midlands 21,548 Mersey 10,805 North Western 18,596 Regions total 205,073 Notes:
1. The expenditure relates to provisions purchased for patients and staff and is incurred predominately in hospitals; elements included for other services covered by HCHS—for example, community health—are not separately identifiable in the annual accounts.
2. The table excludes expenditure by the special health authorities for the London postgraduate teaching hospitals. Expenditure incurred by regional and district health authorities under contract catering arrangements, totalling some £14.1 million in 1989–90, is similarly excluded.