§ Mr. Wigleyasked the Secretary of State for Wales if he will estimate the job losses in the Health Service in Wales which would occur if area health authorities were required to cut expenditure in line with his table on page 8 of the Welsh Office document "Health Service Resources in Wales 1983–84".
§ Mr. Wyn Roberts:Since the hypothetical figures discussed in the paper did not imply any reduction in overall NHS funding, talk of job losses is irresponsible and misleading.
§ Mr. Wigleyasked the Secretary of State for Wales if he will give an assurance that in drawing up the allocation of resources for health services in Wales for 1983–84, he will ensure that such allocation does not lead to the worsening of waiting lists for in-hospital treatment.
§ Mr. Wyn Roberts:The Government are determined to ensure that people in need of in-patient treatment receive it as quickly as possible. Until the present wholly unnecessary industrial action by some NHS staff, this Government had reduced waiting lists significantly.
§ Mr. Wigleyasked the Secretary of State for Wales (1) what response he has been given by the chairmen of the Welsh area health authorities, following their meeting at 330W Brecon on 24 September, to the document "Health Services Resources in Wales 1983–84" drawn up by the Welsh Office on 23 August;
(2) whether he has sought and, if so, whether he has been given, any assurance from the area health authorities in Wales that cutbacks in their spending arising from a review of resources available for 1983-84, will not affect their priority services.
§ Mr. Wyn Roberts:At the discussion my right hon. Friend and I had with health authority chairmen on 15 October, we asked for their views in writing on the questions raised in the discussion paper 'NHS Resources in Wales 1983–84'. The paper specifically refers to the issue on protecting priority services.
§ Mr. Wigleyasked the Secretary of State for Wales if, as a result of the Welsh Office proposals for a change in the available resources for area health authorities in Wales, it was necessary for these authorities to consider the immediate closure of hospitals, the authorities concerned would still be required to go through the full consultation procedures before any such decisions were taken.
§ Mr. Wyn Roberts:We have made no proposals to change the level of resources made available to the health authorities in Wales. Rather we are considering with the benefit of their advice how to improve the planning of expenditure on the Health Service to ensure that the most efficient and effective services possible are provided from the resources deployed. We do not propose to change the statutory consultation procedures governing hospital closure proposals.