§ Mr. Dubsasked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will indicate for the latest year (a) the items supplied and (b) treatments carried out by the National Health Service on behalf of patients in private hospitals; and what income was received by the National Health Service in respect of these matters.
§ Mr. Kenneth ClarkeInformation about items supplied and treatments carried out by the NHS on behalf of patients in private hospitals is not held centrally. The only separately identifiable income received by the NHS in 1982–83 was in annual accounts submitted by health authorities in England which show that a total of £18,301 was collected in charges made for accommodation and services provided under section 58 of the National Health Service Act 1977.
§ Mr. Dobsonasked the Secretary of State for Social Services (1) if he will give, for the latest available year, the total number of operations performed on private patients in National Health Service hospitals in England, breaking the figure down (a) by region and (b) by specialty;
(2) if he will give, for the latest available year, the total number of procedures, other than operations performed for private patients in National Health Service hospitals in England, breaking the figure down (a) by region and (b) by specialty.
§ Mr. Kenneth Clarke[pursuant to his reply, 27 February 1984, c. 66]: in 1981 there were 96,934 discharges and deaths of private patients from NHS hospitals in England. Of these, an estimated 69,000 were of patients who had had surgical operations. Clinical information on private patients treated in NHS hospitals is held centrally on a sample basis only and the 1981 sample, the latest available, is known to be incomplete in some regions. A comprehensive breakdown by region and by specialty is therefore not available.