§ Mr. BurnsTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what has been(a) the total cost to the NHS of treatment under 655W the concordat with the private sector, (b) the average cost of treatment per patient and (c) the average cost of similar treatment as in (b) above in the NHS. [10635]
§ Mr. MilburnContracts agreed under the concordat are signed at the local level and the Department does not have complete information on expenditure. £20 million was made available to the national health service to purchase treatment in the private sector last winter, which funded just over 10,500 cases, for example an average cost per case of approximately £1,900. However, in the absence of information on the mix of cases this figure is not particularly meaningful.
The Department has recently surveyed NHS health authorities and trusts on their use of the private sector. Analysis is not yet complete.
§ Mr. BurnsTo ask the Secretary of State for. Health what assessment he has made of the impact on delayed discharges in acute hospitals of treatment under the concordat with the private sector. [10490]
§ Mr. MilburnTreatments provided under concordat arrangements will generally take patients off existing national health service waiting lists for elective surgery. I am not aware of any adverse impact on delayed discharges in acute hospitals as a result of patients receiving treatment under the concordat.
§ Mr. BurnsTo ask the Secretary of State for Health how many patients have been treated under the concordat with the private sector since its implementation. [10492]
§ Mr. MilburnBetween 1 November 2000 and 30 September 2001 there were 64,136 national health service funded elective cases in the private sector.