HC Deb 06 July 2000 vol 353 c282W
Mr. Ian Taylor

To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will increase the level of resources for Epsom and St. Helier NHS Trust in respect of services at Cobham Cottage Hospital. [128463]

Yvette Cooper

The distribution of resources among the units of a National Health Service Trust is not properly a matter for my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State, but is decided instead by the trust itself in conjunction with its commissioning health authorities on behalf of the residents of the area. It is for East Surrey health authority and Mid Surrey Primary Care Group in liaison with Epsom and St. Helier NHS Trust to establish the correct level of funding for local services taking a range of health service priorities into account. Discussions around funding this year were concluded recently as part of the negotiations on the service and financial framework.