§ Mr. Austin MitchellTo ask the Secretary of State for Health whether the Government will take into account the 149W higher cost of running hospitals in buildings such as hutted camps and Victorian workhouses when the new arrangements for the hospital services are introduced.
§ Mr. FreemanThe introduction of a system for charging for capital announced in the White Paper "Working for Patients" will enable health authorities to appraise capital investment options more effectively. Comparison of the running costs of hospitals of different ages, types and functional conditions is complicated by a number of factors including the tendency for new hospitals to be used more intensively than those they replace. The Department is sponsoring research in this area to see to what extent overall running costs are related to the physical characteristics of the hospital stock. If successful this research would add further to the quality of investment appraisal in the National Health Service.