§ Mr. MorganTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what guidelines she has given to purchasers and providers of health care concerning the use of marginal cost pricing for waiting list initiative expenditure; in what circumstances purchaser-provider arrangements for operations cart be based on marginal cost pricing; and if she will make a statement.
§ Mr. SackvilleAllocations to regional health authorities from the waiting time fund are tied to the achievement of waiting time targets and, in particular, national policy objectives. Standard pricing guidelines apply to the health care that these funds purchase. As marginal cost pricing should only be applied, in year, for unplanned spare capacity in excess of the assumed volume of service, waiting list initiative expenditure need not result in marginal cost pricing. It is therefore not appropriate to issue separate guidelines on marginal cost pricing of waiting list expenditure.