§ Mr. Kirkwoodasked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will make a statement on the privatisation of hospital ancillary services.
§ Mr. FowlerThe Government are seeking to achieve the best value for money in the National Health Service and the maximum amount of resources devoted to patient care. Part of this policy is to improve the cost effectiveness of the domestic and cleaning services, the catering services and the laundry services. So far, health authorities have put one-third of these services out to competitive tender. Our latest estimate is that as a result of this policy annual savings of £42 million are now being achieved. This compares with a savings figure of only £9 million 12 months previously. These savings come in part from the use of outside contractors and in part from improvements in the efficiency of the in-house organisation. Savings are now mounting steadily as more services are put to tender and further substantial progress can be expected. These savings are being retained by health authorities for use in running and developing services to patients. The resources released are now making a substantial contribution to patient care.
The savings achieved in individual regions are shown in the table:
£ '000 Northern 2,528 Yorkshire 3,378 Trent 2,565 East Anglian 2,855 North West Thames 4,725 North East Thames 3,145 South East Thames 2,986 South West Thames 5,906 Wessex 911 Oxford 1,788 South Western 2,078 West Midlands 2,970 Mersey 3,933 North Western 1,120 SHA's 1,086 Total 41,974