§ Mr. Frank FieldTo ask the Secretary of State for Health how much was spent on buying private healthcare for NHS patients in(a) 1997 and (b) the latest year for which figures are available; and what proportion of the total NHS budget this expenditure represented. [177915]
§ Mr. HuttonWe do not have central figures for the amount spent on buying private healthcare for national health service patients in 1997. In the year 2002–03 the total cost of acute services subcontracted to or directly commissioned by primary care trusts and NHS trusts from non-NHS providers was approximately £110.58 million. The latest figures for total expenditure on acute services in the secondary care environment (hospital and community health service figures (HCHS) was £17.2 billion in 2001–02. Therefore, expenditure on acute healthcare from non-NHS providers represents less than 1 per cent. of total HCHS expenditure. It is not possible to extrapolate the precise amount of money spent in the private sector for 2002£03 from the overall cost of the NHS buying services from non-NHS providers including voluntary and charitable organisations and the independent sector.