§ Mrs. LaitTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what guidelines are given to NHS trusts in calculating full or marginal costs when bidding for contracts.
§ Mr. SackvilleCosting guidance given to national health service trusts, for use when negotiating contracts with NHS bodies for the provision of health care, is contained in "The Costing For Contracting Manual", which consists of FDL(93)59, FDL(93)76 and FDL(94)10.
The fundamental principles behind the costing of services within the NHS are that: price should be equal to cost, costs should be established on a full cost basis, there should be no planned cross subsidisation between "contracts" and that a minimum standard of cost classification should be established.
Price can only be established on a marginal cost basis where there is, in year, unplanned spare capacity.
The rules for private patient contracts are contained in Her Majesty's Treasury "Fees and Charges Guide".
Copies of all the documents are available in the Library.