asked the Secretary of of State for Social Services if he is satisfied that the Mersey regional health authority has used its available funds wisely so as to provide proper facilities for heart patients.

Health authorities have the responsibility of balancing competing claims on finite resources, and it is in the nature of this activity that no solution can be ideal from all points of view. In responding to my hon. Friend's Questions and letters on this subject, I have explained to him fully the pressures on services for heart patients in the Mersey region and the background to them. I do not regard these as evidence of misjudgment by the regional health authority, and I am satisfied that the authority is seized of the current problems and is taking suitable action to meet them.