§ Mr. Alfred MorrisTo ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to his answer of 22 January,Official Report, column 21, if he will publish in the Official Report the joint press statement issued by the Under-Secretary following his meeting of 17 January with representatives of the Manchester Health Commission and the city's community health councils; and when he expects to be able to announce the outcome of his consideration of potential solutions to the problems raised with him in respect of health councils. [11994]
§ Mr. HoramThe text of the press statement, issued on 17 January, is as follows
Mr John Horam, Parliamentary Secretary of Health, today met representatives of Manchester Health Commission and the three community health councils which cover the city of Manchester.The visitors gave a presentation on their criticisms of the current formula for weighted capitation, under which the level of funding received by the commission is adjusted to take account of the age and needs of the local population.The Minister also heard an account of the health needs of the people of Manchester, as measured against the targets set out in the Government's "Health of the Nation" initiative.He was told that the city has some of the worst figures in the country for cervical cancer, lung cancer, coronary heart disease, psychiatric illness, dental decay and infant mortality.The Minister heard about intense pressures on community and acute hospital services throughout the year.He was told that the city's health service continues to make vigorous efforts to make the best use of resources available, but was nevertheless one of only two authorities in the entire country to receive no growth money for 1996–97.Mr Horam listened sympathetically and said he respected the fact that the commission and the three community health councils had joined forces to represent Manchester as a whole.419WHe said he fully understood there was an exceptional problem in Manchester which needed to be addressed. Further work was in hand to try to refine the weighted capitation formula and he hoped that any subsequent refinement would deliver a good result for Manchester from 1997–98.He also said that if there was anything that could be done in a transitional way, he would certainly be sympathetic to Manchester's problems.The representations form Manchester were mainly concerned with the impact on their funding of certain elements of the weighted capitation formula. Work is in hand to review the elements of the formula concerned and the results should be ready to inform 1997–98 allocations.