§ Mr. BurnsTo ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on the variation in the cost of operations in NHS hospitals and health authorities in the last 12 months. [127481]
§ Mr. HuttonData showing the variation of national health service unit costs are provided through the reference cost index. Since the data are provided at health care resource group (groupings of treatment episodes similar in resource use and clinical response) level, it is not possible to determine the variation in the cost of operations specifically. In addition, reference cost data for the financial year 2002–03 will not be available until the autumn.
The Department's report provides an analysis of 2001–02 reference cost data. This shows that the variation in unit costs across NHS trusts, measured by the standard deviation, fell from 21.2 in 2000–01 to 16.9 in 2001–02.