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Department of Health

My right hon. Friend asked, perhaps rhetorically, what the NHS costs. The answer is about £200 million a day. Over the three hours of this debate, that works out to about £25 million. That is a vastly increased sum, compared with the tattered baton that was passed to us on 1 May 1997. Certainly, financial management needs to be improved. Does he agree that some parts of the NHS are under-managed, contrary to the stereotype often portrayed by the Opposition of an NHS groaning under bureaucracy? Some parts need better management, especially by accountants, and I declare an interest.