Written question asked by Baroness McIntosh of Pickering (Conservative) on Tuesday, 16 November 2004, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Thursday, 18 November 2004. It was answered by Lord Hutton of Furness (Labour) on Thursday, 18 November 2004 on behalf of the Department of Health.

Dept of Health

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether his Department makes up the shortfall where there is a deficit in (a) ambulance service and (b) primary care trusts' budgets.

Answer: Miss McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether his Department makes up the shortfall where there is a deficit in (a) ambulance service and (b) primary care trusts' budgets. [199257] Mr. Hutton: The national health service must live within the funding made available and all organisations are expected to plan for and deliver financial balance to achieve this. Any deficits by NHS organisations need to be matched by underspends by other NHS bodies each year to ensure the NHS as a whole remains within the funding available. In the next year, NHS organisations that overspent should make a surplus in order to ensure that other bodies can utilise the underspends from the previous year.

Secondary information