§ Mr. PikeTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Services what has been the level of funding for the Burnley, Pendle and Rossendale health authority in each of the last eight years; and what has been the percentage change, in both cash and real terms, in each year.
§ Mrs. CurrieThe information requested is not held centrally. The allocation of funds to district health authorities is a matter for regional health authorities. The hon. Member may wish to approach the chairman of the North Western regional health authority who may be able to assist with the information he seeks.
498Wundertaking work to improve efficiency and their cost improvement programmes will yield savings worth some £600 million by the end of the 1987–88 financial year.
A number of initiatives have been launched to help authorities in their search for improved efficiency. This year we have.
established a value for money unit to promote the dissemination of good practice and to carry out studies of potential areas for savings;issued a study of paymaster systems in health authorities identifying options for efficiency improvements and asked authorities to report on the scope for savings;encouraged authorities to implement schemes to generate additional income.In addition to these specific initiatives we are continuing:
to promote improvements in NHS purchasing arrangements;to encourage authorities to make further energy savings;to introduce new systems of resource management to provide doctors, nurses and other professional staff with the information they need to ensure that the resources they control are used to best effect.The results of these initiatives are monitored through the existing planning and review systems, themselves introduced or improved under the aegis of the Management Board.