Seventh report from the Select Committee on Estimates : together with the proceedings of the committee on 25th May, the minutes of evidence taken before sub-committee D and appendices, session 1948-49 : the administration of the national health services.

  • Great Britain. Parliament. House of Commons. Select Committee on Estimates
Date:
1949
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Seventh report from the Select Committee on Estimates : together with the proceedings of the committee on 25th May, the minutes of evidence taken before sub-committee D and appendices, session 1948-49 : the administration of the national health services. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    8. Just as the demand for the Health Services has not yet reached a permanent level, so also the terms on which the services are to be supplied have not yet been settled on a permanent basis. These pay- ments form a large part of the total of the Estimates. At the time of Your Committee’s inquiry many of the scales were the subject of negotiation between the Departments and representatives of the pro- fessional bodies. Examples of this were the fees of dentists, the pay- ment made for the supply of spectacles and the fees paid to chemists. As it would not be profitable for Your Committee to inquire into these matters while negotiations are in progress, they have not further pursued their inquiry into them. 9. In short, it is as yet too early to judge whether or not the National Health Services as a whole are being managed economically. There are, however, matters on which it is possible for Your Committee to make comment even at this early stage. Il. THE COST- OF THE-SERVICES 10. The following have been the Estimates for the National Health Services as a whole: — 1948-49 1948-49 Original Revised pee, || eee: ay aoe 9 months] 9 months] £ di a National Health Services [Gross Totals] | 198,376,000 | 275,904,542 | 352,324,600 Appropriations in Aid :— National Insurance contributions ... | 27,000,000 27,000,000 | 40,700,000 Recoveries by hospitals in respect of ‘Services, etc. . Be as |, - 33002000 12,258,000 11,296,000 Superannuation contributions Ae 14,900,000 27,805,000 33,194,000 Other receipts =e set a 919,000 503,400 7,407,000* 48,701,000 | 67,566,400 | 92,597,000 National Health Services [Net Totals] 149,675,000 | 208,338,142 | 259,727,600 * Note: this figure includes the non-recurrent item of £6,500,000 paid out of the Hospitals Endowment Funds. To the Estimate of £259,727,600 for 1949-50, the first full year of the quarters by the Departments concerned. This expenditure is roughly estimated at £1,250,000. Thus the cost of the National Health Ser- vices to the tax-payer in 1949-50 will, if the Estimates prove to be accurate, be approximately £261,000,000. 11. There is a widespread belief that the whole of the cost of the National Health Services is provided by means of the National Insur- ance contributions. Actually, the system is that there is appropriated annually to the Health Service, out of the contributions paid, a total sum equivalent to 14d. a week from each employer, 10d. from each self- employed and non- employed person, 84d. or 64d. a week respectively from each male or female employee over the age of 18, and 44d. a week from each boy or girl employee under the age of 18. It 1S estimated that the total sum of these allocations will be £40,700,000 in 1949-50, and it will thus pay for about one-ninth of the National Health Services. The cost of the National Health Services is unex- pectedly high, and demands that they should be administered on the