Parliamentary Written Question (Correction)
(Limited Text - Ministerial Extracts only)
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The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health (Anne Milton)
I regret that the written answers given to my hon. Friends the Members for Southend West (Mr Amess) on 10 June 2010, Official Report, col. 219W, and for Suffolk Coastal (Dr Coffey) on 13 July, Official Report, col.705-6W, were incorrect. They should not have included the line that information on these contracts is not collected centrally. I have been advised that the Department does collect limited information covering independent sector costs.
The correct reply to my hon. Friends the Members for Southend West and for Suffolk Costal is that the Department does collect limited information on the cost to NHS providers (NHS trusts and primary care trust provider arms) of contracting services from independent sector providers. A revised response to the questions is set out below.
£ million | |
|---|---|
Cost to NHS organisations of providing abortion | 82.1 |
Cost to NHS providers of contracting abortions from independent sector providers | 10.4 |
Source 2008-09 reference costs Note The above excludes the cost of abortions commissioned directly by primary care trusts from the independent sector, which is not collected centrally. This means that the figure of £ 10.4 million quoted above is not representative of the total cost to the NHS of abortions carried out by independent sector providers, which in 2009 accounted for approximately 60% of all abortions carried out. Total NHS costs covering 2010 are not currently available. |