§ Mr. RedmondTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what considerations underlay her decision not to collect information centrally on(a) response times by ambulance services, (b) hospitals which failed to treat patients within the waiting time set out in the patients charter, (c) the disease optic neuritis, (d) the number of child patients unable to receive paediatric intensive care owing to shortage of paediatric intensive care beds, (e) the number of general practitioners receiving gross payments of £200,000 or over per year, (f) district health authorities running at (i) a surplus or (ii) a deficit on the number of people wishing to be inoculated against influenza, (g) waiting times for outpatient treatment by (i) regional health authorities and (ii) district health authorities, (h) the use of Concorde flights by health staff and (i) the number of children refused orthodontic treatment because of the limitation on extra-contractual referrals; and if she will reconsider her decision in each case.
§ Dr. MawhinneyThe main thrust of the national health service reforms is the devolution of responsibility to appropriate levels, allowing those providing services to be fully in charge of planning and delivery. It would be counter to those reforms for the centre to impose unnecessarily restrictive monitoring systems and to require returns for, and about, every step in the process of procuring and delivering health care.