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Department of Health

I can neither agree nor disagree. My hon. Friend is probably right. The NHS is not over-managed. That has been a political football across the Chamber for all the years that I have been in the House—managers in the NHS, not people on the front line. The Health Committee announced a few weeks ago that we would look into health care staffing. We will look at management, as opposed to clinical and other related grades in the NHS. I want to deal with two further points: how the Government are responding to the situation and what they are asking the NHS to do. It may not be difficult for people to come to terms with the actions that the Government are taking in the short term. My primary care trust is in south Yorkshire. I understand that in next year’s budget the Yorkshire strategic health authorities have been asked to place 2.5 per cent. of their overall budget in reserve because of the need to balance the books nationally in light of the current overspend. That means that my PCT will not get £7.5 million of its growth money. There is still a lot more growth money going in, but it is still a difficult decision for the PCT to accept. There was a board meeting this afternoon at which it was accepted. The rest of south Yorkshire will also have to put 2.5 per cent. of the budget in reserve, because four of the PCTs in south Yorkshire have overspent—the exact figure is not known. Together with other south Yorkshire Members, I had a meeting last week with the SHA, which thought initially that there would be a £20 million overspend in those four PCTs. That figure is more likely to be between £14 million and £16 million. Everything has been honest and open. We are not hiding anything. Does my PCT like the idea of £7.5 million of its growth money coming out of next year’s budget? Absolutely not. Nor do I, or anybody who works in local health care.