§ Mr. MorganTo ask the Secretary of State for Wales what information he has in relation to the numbers of(a) trust hospitals and (b) directly managed unit hospitals which are no longer able to treat (i) elective surgery cases and (ii) new out-patients referred by the purchasing side of the corresponding local health authority.
§ Mr. RedwoodInformation on the management of individual service contracts within the NHS is not collected centrally as a matter of routine. Health authorities and NHS trusts are held to account for their overall performance against targets agreed annually with my Department. The emphasis is on the delivery of timely and effective services for patients, and the first class stewardship of resources. A judgment is also made of the skill with which the contracting process as a whole is managed in each area.