§ Mr. PawseyTo ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list the reasons for not making patients aware of the cost of their individual treatment. [1097]
§ Mr. MalonePresent costing systems within the national health service are intended to provide accurate estimates of total costs involved in providing a service at a pre-determined level of activity. This system enables average treatment costs to be produced, and it is these figures that are used in the price lists for extra contractual referrals. The price lists are available to the public. The additional costing work necessary to produce individual patient treatment costs would not represent best use of NHS resources.