§ Mr. BattleTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what the cost to the NHS of road traffic accidents was in 2002–03. [136047]
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§ Ms Rosie WintertonUnder the provisions of the Road Traffic (NHS Charges) Act 1999, £105 million was recovered and paid to national health services hospitals in England and Wales and Scotland for treating those injured in road traffic accidents in 2002–03. This amount is not the full cost of treating road traffic casualties. However, as costs are recovered only where the injured person receives personal injury compensation, it includes only hospital treatment costs, and the tariff system under which the scheme operates reflects average costs rather than actual costs.
Information on the total cost to the NHS of treating all road traffic accident victims is not held centrally.