Written question asked by Julian Smith (Conservative) on Friday, 8 October 2010, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Tuesday, 12 October 2010. It was answered by Simon Burns (Conservative) on Monday, 18 October 2010 on behalf of the Department of Health.

Health Services: Rural Areas

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what provision the NHS funding formula makes for serving sparsely populated rural communities.

Answer: The independent Advisory Committee on Resource Allocation (ACRA), which oversees the development of the primary care trust (PCT) revenue allocation funding formula, has considered the impact of rurality on a number of occasions and concluded that the only adjustment necessary is the Emergency Ambulance Cost Adjustment, to reflect the additional cost of providing emergency ambulance services in rural areas. No further adjustment is made to reflect rurality.ACRA is to continue to provide independent advice to the Secretary of State on the funding formula for the allocation of national health service resources during the transition to the NHS Commissioning Board. ACRA has been asked to consider looking again at the impact of rurality on unavoidable differences on costs as part of its future work programme.

Secondary information

Type: Written question
Reference: 17224; 516 c574W
Session: 2010-12
Related items: NHS: Funding
Monday, 22 November 2010
Written questions
House of Lords
Subjects: Health services Rural areas
Link: View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk