HC Deb 07 February 2002 vol 379 cc1170-1W
Chris Grayling

To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people have been waiting(a) more than six months and (b) more than 12 months for treatment in the 10 health authority areas that receive (i) the highest and (ii) the lowest weighted expenditure per head of population. [32963]

Mr. Hutton

[holding answer 4 February 2002]: For the reasons set out in the notes to the table, expenditure per head cannot be reliably compared between health authorities, nor necessarily be correlated with waiting times information.

The 10 health authorities with the highest and lowest expenditure per weighted head of population in 2000–01 are shown in the table. The numbers of people waiting for more than six and 12 months for in-patient and for out-patient treatment are shown both as total numbers waiting and also as the numbers waiting per 1,000 head of weighted population.

Health authorities with lowest expenditure per capita
Number of patients waiting for in-patient treatment
Name Expend per capita (£) Over six months Per 1,000 head of weighted population Over 12 months Per 1,000 head of weighted population
East Lancashire HA 740.66 2,405 4.28 91 0.16
County Durham And Darlington HA 738.32 1,852 2.76 23 0.03
Wigan and Bolton HA 732.65 2,638 4.29 395 0.64

Notes:

1. In many health authorities there are factors which distort the expenditure per head. These include: the health authority acting in a lead capacity to commission health care or fund training on behalf of other health bodies; asset revaluations in NHS trusts being funded through health authorities; and some double counting of expenditure between health authorities and primary care trusts within the health authority area. Allocations per weighted head of population provide a much more reliable measure to identify differences between funding of health authorities.

2. Expenditure is taken from health authority and primary care trust summarisation forms which are prepared on a resource basis and therefore differ from allocations in the year. The expenditure is the total spent by the health authority and by the primary care trusts within each health authority area. The majority of General Dental Services expenditure is not included in the health authority or primary care trust accounts and is separately accounted for by the Dental Practice Board.

3. Health authorities and primary care trusts should account for their expenditure on a gross basis. This results in an element of double counting where one body acts as the main commissioner and is then reimbursed by other bodies. The effect of this double counting within the answer cannot be identified.

Sources:

Health authority summarisation forms 2000–01

Primary care trust summarisation schedules 2000–01

Weighted population estimates 2000–01

QF01/QMO8R Waiting times data quarterly returns, end March 2001