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NHS Contracts

Answer

The consultant contract was costed on a methodology agreed with the British Medical Association and on that basis the estimated cost of the contract, and the funding, was £133 million in 2003–04 rising to £250 million in 2005–06. In late 2004, we adjusted the tariff for 2005–06 by £150 million in response to suggestions from the service that this was the further cost pressure. However, our national survey, published in February 2005, indicated that the actual additional cost to the service was around £90 million.Agenda for change costs were estimated from experience in a number of early implementer sites to be consistent with the agreed funding envelope of £480 million in 2004–05 rising to £950 million in 2005–06.There are concerns based on monitoring in a number of sample sites that initial costs may have been higher than expected, and follow-up work is currently being carried out on the costs of implementation within each strategic health authority to test this. The agenda for change funding envelope is due to increase in 2006–07 and 2007–08 and it is too soon to conclude whether or not the overall envelope will be exceeded.For the general medical services contract, forecast spend based on available primary care trust data is shown in the table.

Forecast spend against PCT allocated resources £ billion
Financial year	Allocation	Outturn	Over
2003–04	5.7	5.8	0.1
2004–05	6.8	6.9	0.1
2005–06	7.4	7.5	0.1
(23) Forecast outturn, that is still subject to finalised PCT accounts.

Secondary information

Type

Written question

Reference

36604; 442 c724W;442 c724W

Session

2005-06

Subjects

Contracts Costs Consultants Hospitals NHS Questionnaires

Contains statistics

Yes

Link

View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk