§ Mr. YeoTo ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what estimate he has made of the change in NHS productivity in each year since 1997; what measures he uses to calculate NHS productivity; and if he will make a statement; [178215]
(2) what the evidential basis is for the assessment that there has been a 1.5 per cent. annual improvement in NHS productivity. [178216]
§ Mr. HuttonThe chief executive's report, published in May 2004, highlighted a number of areas where the national health service is becoming more productive including
Productivity improvements in the ambulance service and cardiology.Quantifiable improvements in results—both outcomes and outputs—with improvements in premature mortality from coronary heart disease, cancer and suicide and faster access and treatment throughout the NHS.Health promotion measures, such as 'flu injections, which provide value for money.Control of overheads and wastage with, for example, lower management costs than other of organisations, improved procurement and project management and control of bureaucracy.The Department has been undertaking work on productivity measurement including the development on an interim measure of NHS cost efficiency that takes account of expenditure on improving the quality of NHS services. Although this measure is still under development and not yet finalised, initial results suggest that cost efficiency in 2002–03 improved by over 1 per cent.
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GPs (excluding retainers, registrars and locums)1 and patients of unrestricted principals and equivalents (UPEs)2 for London by strategic health authority and primary care trust Numbers (headcount) 1997 GP (excluding retainers, registrars and locums)1 Patients of UPEs2 Patients of UPEs per GP (excluding retainers, registrars and locums) London 4,324 7,936,576 1,835 Of which North central London Q05 744 1,401,419 1,884 North east London Q06 849 1,572,827 1,853 North west London Q04 1,164 2,031,706 1,745 South east London Q07 833 1,578,888 1,895 South west London Q08 734 1,351,736 1,842 Further work by the Department to improve productivity measurement is now being undertaken in conjunction with the Office for National Statistics and with the review of measurement of Government output and productivity commissioned by Len Cook. Two aims of this review, led by Sir Tony Atkinson, are to improve the way health outputs are measured in the national accounts and to support improved measures of health productivity.