§ Mr. MichaelTo ask the Secretary of State for Wales what guidance he has offered to Pembrokeshire district health authority and other district health authorities in Wales on the way in which any all-authority national health service trust would operate and the regime under which he would expect such a trust to be regulated in its relations to any purchasing authority and in regard to the national health service directorate in Wales.
§ Mr. David HuntAll national health service trusts operate under common provisions to provide contractually-based health care to purchasing authorities for their resident populations. The main regulatory factor involving the national health service directorate will be the external finance limit allocated to a trust in any given year.
Pembrokeshire district health authority has received advice on these issues, and others relating to the detail of its own trust proposal and my officials will continue to be available to assist the authority and to other potential applicants in Wales.