§ Mr. HoyleTo ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what assessment he has made of the impact population growth will have on Chorley and South Ribble primary care trust; and what extra monies will be made available; [148214]
(2) what extra staff and funding at Chorley Hospital he plans to make available to meet population growth in Chorley; [148215]
(3) what assessment he has made of the impact that population growth in Chorley will have on Chorley Hospital. [148216]
§ Miss Melanie JohnsonAn assessment of the impact of population growth on the local health economy has been made by Lancashire Teaching Hospitals National Health Services Trust. It is noted from population forecasts provided by local councils that the population is due to decline slowly over the 10 years from 2001. There is no perceived impact on the local health economy, including Chorley and South Ribble Primary Care Trust (PCTs), or Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust and its services across Chorley, South Ribble or Preston, and Chorley Hospital in particular.
For each round of allocations, the weighted capitation formula used to inform funding for PCTs is updated to take account of the best available measure of population from the Office for National Statistics.
Revenue allocations for PCTs covering the period 2003–04 to 2005–06 were announced on 11 December 2002. There are no plans to revisit these allocations.
Any changes in population figures will be used for the next round of allocations. We will commence preparatory work on the next round of allocations early this year.