§ 97. Mr. HardyTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what is his estimate for the level of inflation which will be experienced within the National Health Service in 1990; and what funding will be available to cover the additional costs incurred.
§ Mr. FreemanThe Government do not make estimates of inflation in the National Health Service before the end of the financial year concerned.
Funding for the NHS, as for most other areas of public expenditure, is based on cash plans agreed in the context of the public expenditure survey and detailed subsequently in the "Government's Expenditure Plans 1990–91 to 1992–93" (Cm. 1013).
In 1990–91 the NHS in England alone will have additional resources equivalent to nearly £2.5 billion compared with 1989–90; this includes an extra £166 million announced on 1 February to help meet the additional costs of the 1990 review body pay awards for doctors and dentists and nurses and midwives.