To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much was spent on (a) the NHS and (b) NHS maternity services in the 2007-08 financial year. (225896)

The requested statistics are given as follows.

Forecast outturn net NHS expenditure for 2007-08 is £89,217 million¹.

Total expenditure on the commissioning of secondary maternity services by primary care trusts in 2007-08 is £ 1,787 million².

Sources:

¹ Position at 30 September HMT COINs Database

² 2007-08 Audited PCT Financial Monitoring and Accounts Forms

To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for South Cambridgeshire of 2 April 2008, Official Report, columns 1101-02W, on maternity services: finance, how much was spent on NHS maternity services in each region of England in 2007-08. (225946)

The information requested is shown in the following table.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will assess whether a policy of introducing compulsory single room occupancy in maternity units would result in the closure of any existing units. (226721)

In the national health service, it is practice that all women give birth in single rooms except where medical interventions take place, for example, a caesarean section which would mean delivery in an operating theatre. Pre and post-natal stays may be in a single room or in a multi-bed bay. In some cases, especially antenatal, it may be inappropriate from a clinical standpoint, for example, day observation, for a single room to be used.

There is no policy of compulsory single room occupancy. How maternity services are structured and commissioned, to meet the needs of the local population, is a matter for local determination.