§ The Countess of Marasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether the costs of coronary artery by-pass operations performed by the Trent Regional Health Authority and the Thames Regional Health Authority as detailed on page 3 of The Times for 20th April 1988 are correct; and if so, why there is such a large difference.
§ Lord SkelmersdaleThe cost of £1,500, quoted inThe Times article of 20th April, is the additional amount it would cost the National Heart and Chest Hospitals Special Health Authority to carry out additional coronary artery by-pass grafts within existing capacity. The figure of £3,000 quoted for Trent Region should have been £3,500. This is the full cost of treatment, including diagnostic and overhead costs. The two figures are not, therefore, comparable.