§ Mr. Hefferasked the Minister of Health what is the cost of a patient per bed in the London area, as against the cost per patient per bed in Liverpool; and what are the reasons for the difference.
§ Mr. K. RobinsonDetails for 1964–65 of the costs per in-patient per week and per in-patient treated, by hospital types, for the areas of the Liverpool Regional Hospital Board and the four Metropolitan Regional Hospital Boards, are given in Appendices 2 and 3 of Part I of the published Hospital Costing Returns.
The reasons for the differences, which are a good deal less than they were, are partly historical and partly traditional and reflect, for example, differences in the hospital services inherited by the National Health Service and the ratios of beds to population and differences in length of stay in hospital. The running costs of the London hospitals are affected by the higher wage rates payable to certain employees.