§ Mr. SteenTo ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will establish a clearing house in his Department to facilitate a more efficient use of hospital resources so that general practitioners and consultants can be directed to those hospitals with the shortest waiting list for each particular category of operation.
§ Mrs. Virginia BottomleyThe Government believe that central direction is not the most effective way of managing
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Notifications of all forms of tuberculosis by Regional Health Authorities in England for 1979 to 19891 Area 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 19891 England 8,752 7,803 7,083 6,501 5,833 5,583 5,743 4,853 4,960 5,241 RHA Northern 486 428 336 342 300 260 299 271 222 244 Yorkshire 722 603 627 539 468 415 437 355 403 418 Trent 709 660 593 547 519 536 572 514 529 496 East Anglian 146 114 96 106 95 101 91 90 80 74 North West Thames 1,350 1,271 1,082 995 896 775 867 672 727 761 North East Thames 1,078 946 803 753 659 697 620 603 579 690 South East Thames 598 472 452 452 452 440 343 293 323 370 South West Thames 411 384 319 326 262 254 301 244 231 198 Wessex 161 182 191 169 145 164 133 120 145 124 Oxford 308 254 248 180 215 171 148 199 188 191 South Western 294 319 225 183 180 139 146 136 147 139 West Midlands 1,164 1,022 1,045 900 848 813 855 663 671 849 the National Health Service. The reforms set out in the White Paper "Working for Patients", and embodied in the National Health Service and Community Care Bill, will create both the incentives, and the means, for the more efficient use of resources and improved quality of service to patients.
Under the new arrangements there will be better information for general practitioners on the waiting times each hospital will be expected to achieve, and greater flexibility to choose the most appropriate package of care overall, taking account of such information.