§ Mrs. GormanTo ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will estimate the average cost of non-emergency ambulance journeys.
§ Mrs. Virginia BottomleyInformation in the form requested is not available centrally. However, the average costs per patient carried and per mile in England for 1986–87, the latest figures currently available, are £13.78 and £1.90 respectively.
§ Mrs. GormanTo ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will estimate the numbers of patients transported by the ambulance service in the most recent year for which figures are available in(a) emergency situations and (b) non-emergency situations.
§ Mrs. Virginia BottomleyThe number of emergency and non-emergency patient journeys for 1987–88, by ambulance authority, is given in the table. One patient journey is defined as a single trip to, or return from, a place where a patient receives medical care or treatment.
367W
Total number of patients' journeys 1987–88 England Ambulance authority Emergency cases Non-emergency cases England 1,851,442 14,438,568 Cleveland 21,918 221,744 Cumbria 13,473 224,772 Durham 26,863 265,389 Northumbria Metropolitan 57,773 724,951 Humberside 39,703 461,285 North Yorkshire 17,620 236,918 West Yorkshire Metropolitan 106,659 876,540 Derbyshire 27,176 312,637 Leicestershire 23,480 350,151 Lincolnshire 14,465 185,363 Nottinghamshire 49,602 404,703 South Yorkshire Metropolitan 41,187 534,992 Cambridgeshire 13,977 91,312 Norfolk 21,667 202,229 Suffolk 9,955 211,567 Bedfordshire 16,274 127,987 Hertfordshire 31,023 275,063 Essex 52,543 286,745 East Sussex 34,520 279,208 Kent 48,925 458,392 Surrey 28,537 269,245 West Sussex 18,786 156,902 London Ambulance Service 383,301 1,531,179 Dorset 20,166 129,169 Hampshire 36,440 256,148 Wiltshire 11,043 58,274 Isle of Wight 3,244 22,419 Berkshire 20,943 143,561 Buckinghamshire 13,062 154,281 Northamptonshire 15,525 184,835 Oxfordshire 9,797 119,565 Avon 26,675 24,717 Cornwall and Isles of Scilly 13,352 64,206 Devon 30,542 251,200 Gloucestershire 12,406 160,350 Somerset 9,037 113,989 Hereford and Worcester 15,591 184,042 Shropshire 11,096 111,383 Staffordshire 32,629 284,609 Warwickshire 10,880 110,325 West Midlands Metropolitan 109,789 874,514 Cheshire 33,033 431,748 Mersey Metropolitan 108,541 677,250 Lancashire 58,969 436,387 Greater Manchester Metropolitan 149,255 956,322 Source: KA32 Summary.
§ Mrs. GormanTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what representations he has received in favour of opening to competitive tender the management and organisation of the routine transport ambulance service.
§ Mrs. Virginia BottomleyWe have received no such representations. I refer my hon. Friend to the reply my hon. Friend gave to hon. Member for Warrington, North (Mr. Hoyle) on 30 November 1989, at column411.