"Working for Patients"

Part of Oral Answers to Questions — Health – in the House of Commons at 12:00 am on 21 February 1989.

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Photo of Kenneth Clarke Kenneth Clarke The Secretary of State for Health 12:00, 21 February 1989

We made some provision for administrative costs in last year's autumn settlement when we allocated £2 billion. Money will certainly need to be put up front for investment in modern management techniques to achieve savings thereafter and to make better use of that money for patients.

As I said in my main reply, the Health Service needs to invest in that sort of modern management information. En any event, it is absurd that a huge service that spends £26,000 million each year cannot say with certainty where any individual sums of money go or what any facility costs or requires to be spent on it. All our investment in modern management techniques is essential to produce a stronger and better run National Health Service.