§ 28. Mrs. Jill Knightasked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will detail the types of services in the National Health Service on which the extra £8½ billion per annum allocated to the National Health Service since 1979 is being spent; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. Kenneth ClarkeIn the five years from 1978–79 to 1983–84 we have increased expenditure in the National Health Service in England from £6½ billion to some £13 billion. This cash increase has kept NHS spending well ahead of general inflation and has provided for the expansion of services to cope with the growth in the number of very old people and to meet other pressures. All main health care services have grown, but in line with Government policy we have devoted an increasing proportion of resources to services for the elderly, and community services such as health visiting and district nursing. In the hospital sector the best measure of expansion and improvement has been the large increase in the number of patients treated.
In 1982, the NHS was treating an extra ½ mill ion inpatient cases and nearly 2 million more outpatient cases per year compared to 1978.