Oral question asked in the House of Lords, by Baroness Gardner of Parkes (Conservative). It was answered on Wednesday, 14 December 2005.

NHS Funding: Patient Care

Question: My Lords, I thank the Minister for his reply, but I do not quite understand it. As we all know, at the present time the primary care trusts are largely in deficit. The Minister has no doubt seen the article by Professor Bosanquet which said that there will be a gap of £6.8 billion by 2010. The Minister has denied that that will be so. But if that is true, why did the chief executive of the National Health Service, in response to the Bosanquet article, state in a letter the following day that his report to the NHS made clear that we are committed to reducing costs by £6.5 billion a year by 2008? I cannot understand why the Minister would want to cut costs if there is not likely to be a deficit.

Answer: My Lords, any prudent government will look for efficiency and productivity improvements in the public services, including the NHS. The chief executive’s statement about £6.5 billion savings relates to the Gershon inquiry report. The NHS has committed itself, through the department, to saving £6.5 billion by the end of 2007–08. We are a long way along that path because, as the chief executive also announced, we have saved £1.7 billion to date.

Secondary information