§ Mr. DonohoeTo ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will list for each health board the names of the private health providers with which they have had contracts, the value of each contract, and the number of patients covered by each contract for (i) 1993–94, (ii) 1994–95 and (iii) 1995–96. [10967]
Lord James Douglas-Hamilton: The information requested is not collected centrally on a routine basis.
In response to a request by the hon. Member, the information in the table was obtained specifically from health boards. The further details requested by the hon. Member cannot be provided centrally without risking a breach of patient confidentiality.
emergency in-patient care in NHS hospitals. Within the context of overall growth in the NHS, we have recently made available additional funding to help meet key service objectives in the current financial year. This funding includes money for intensive care beds and to improve discharge arrangements, thus making extra beds available.