HC Deb 08 January 2003 vol 397 cc281-2WS
Mr. Watts

To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether the proposed new funding system for the NHS will take into account the number of people who have private health insurance in a particular area. [88343]

Mr. Hutton

The new formula used to allocate revenue resources to primary care trusts for 2003–04 to 2005–06 is concerned with health care need and not availability of private care. The research on which it is based excluded all private episodes of care on the grounds that the need for national health service resources was being modelled. The research also takes account of supply factors such as private hospitals.

£ per head
Year 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02
East Sussex, Brighton and Hove Health Authority 584.27 641.16 813.92 827.74 869.19
South Eastern Region 599.07 656.57 759.83 810.94 890.46
England 607.85 659.76 763.79 825.38 885.83

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 healthcare or fund training on behalf of other health bodies; and asset revaluations in NHS Trusts being funded through health authorities, for these reasons expenditure per head cannot be compared reliably between health authorities.

2.Allocations per weighted head of population provide a much more reliable measure to identify differences between funding of health authorities.

David Wright

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what work is underway to review NHS funding formulae. [89244]

Mr. Hutton

The formula used to allocate National Health Service revenue resources has been reviewed by the Advisory Committee on Resource Allocation.

Following the review the allocations to primary care trusts for 2003–04 to 2005–06 were based on a new formula.

Dr. Fox

To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will publish the new formula for allocation of health spending to health authorities and trusts. [88426]

Mr. Hutton

The 2003/2004 to 2005/2006 Primary Care Trust Revenue Resource Limites Exposition Book has been published. This shows how each Primary Care Trust's allocation has been calculated using the new formula. It can be found at.

Later this year we will publish a revised version of Resource Allocation: Weighted Capitation Formulas which will describe the new formula.

The team who carried out the research into the new formula have published Allocation of Resources to English Areas, a full report of their findings. It can be found at http://www.nhsis.co.uk/isdLservices/info_ consult_AREAReport.htm