West Midlands Regional Health Authority

HC Deb 03 March 1994 vol 238 cc853-4W

Mr. Spellar

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what monitoring her Department is undertaking of the current performance of the West Midlands regional health authority; and what oversight is being conducted of its attempts to clear up past problems identified by the Committee of Public Accounts.

Dr. Mawhinney

The performance of all regional health authorities is monitored by the national health service management executive—NHSME—through a process of continuous review, including quarterly meetings and an annual review by the chief executive of the NHSME. Performance is measured against progress being made on objectives agreed each year between the NHSME and each regional health authority set out in their regional corporate contracts. With regard to the past problems in west midlands identified by the Public Accounts Committee, actions have been taken by the RHA to resolve these problems and these actions have been closely monitored by the NHSME.