To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 14 January 2008, Official Report, column 986W, on Bournemouth and Christchurch primary care trust: finance to my hon. Friend the Member for Bournemouth, East, for which other trusts specialist top-up payments have been discontinued in 2008-09; and how much each trust received in such payments in (a) 2007-08 and (b) 2006-07. (180837)

Specialist top-ups are payable across nine areas of treatment. In 2007-08, all hospitals were eligible for specialist top-ups when they had provided these services. In 2008-09, all providers are still eligible for specialist top-ups for non-specialised child-related, colorectal and orthopaedic activity. The list of providers eligible for all other specialist top-ups was published within the national tariff on 13 December 2007. Copies of the list have been placed in the Library.

In addition, strategic health authorities have the flexibility to agree the payment of specialist top-ups to a wider range of providers than those on the list, when a commissioner can make a compelling case for inclusion.

Data are not collected centrally on how much each trust received in specialist top-ups.