§ Mr. Nicholas BennettTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Services what information he has as to the relative costs of operations and other treatments in different district health authorities; and if he will make a statement on any research currently being undertaken.
§ Mrs. CurrieInformation on the costs of specific operations and other treatments in district health authorities is not routinely collected. The Department is not currently funding research as such on this subject. However, as part of the resource management initiative, information systems are being developed which, used in conjunction with patient classification systems, will enable comparisons to be made of resources used to treat patients suffering from similar types of illness or requiring similar treatment procedures. We hope to have the first results of the new system available in April.