asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what resources he proposes to allocate during the next three years towards increasing hip replacement operations, renal services and coronary artery surgery facilities; and what is the current level of demand from senior citizens for each of the above treatments.
Spending in the hospital and community health services is planned to increase by £650 million in 1986–87. Further increases of £470 million and £440 million are planned for 1987–88 and 1988–89 respectively. Health authorities will also have available their growing cost improvement programmes. It is for authorities to decide upon the allocation of resources to individual services from within the totals available to them. But, the three procedures listed are identified as key priorities for further development and I expect authorities to plan accordingly. Information on the levels of demand for specific procedures or by age group is not available centrally.