§ Mr. MilburnTo ask the Secretary of State for Health how much was spent by(a) regional health authorities, (b) district health authorities, (c) family health service authorities and (d) other health authorities on consultancies in the latest year for which figure are available.
§ Mr. SackvilleExpenditure on consultants is included under the category "external contract staffing and consultancy services", and cannot be separately identified. This information is published in Health and Personal Social Services Statistics, copies of which are available in the Library. The figures could include non-clinical services provided by outside bodies in areas such as cleaning, accountancy and computer services.
§ Mr. MilburnTo ask the Secretary of State for Health how much was spent by NHS trusts on consultancies in the latest year for which figures are available.
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§ Mr. SackvilleNational health service trust expenditure on consultancy services alone is not available centrally. The provisional aggregate figure for NHS trust spending on external contract staffing and consultancy services was £43 million in 1992–93, the latest year for which a figure is available. This expenditure relates to services purchased from other trusts, health authorities and the private sector and includes, for example, linen supplies, transport and computing services as well as consultancy services.
The difference between the above figure and previous estimates is the result of further validation of source data by the NHS Executive.