§ Mr. WoodTo ask the Secretary of State for Health how much money has been spent paying the private sector to treat NHS patients in(a)England and (b)the area covered by Mid Yorkshire Hospitals Trust in (i) 2001–02, (ii) 2002–03 and (iii) 2003–04. [167056]
§ Mr. HuttonIt is not possible to extrapolate the precise amount of money spent in the private sector for 2001–02, 2002–03, 2003–04 from the overall cost of the national health service buying services from non-NHS providers, including voluntary and charitable organisations and the independent sector.
Data was not identified separately for 2001–02. For 2002–03, the reference cost collection was separately identified. Data for 2003–04 will not be available until October 2004.
This will not equate to the total private sector costs because:
Some organisations part-pay non-NHS providers for individual elements of a service.The data includes voluntary and charitable services purchased.The data only relates to services that are included in the current reference cost collection, that is, approximately 80 per cent. of acute services.Learning disabilities services, hospice care and residential and continuing care are outside the scope of the reference costs collection.