Supplementary memorandum by the Department of Health (CBPS 82A)

Additional Note on Financial Transfer from DH to WAG

1. The Department of Health makes an annual transfer to the NHS in Wales to cover the costs of English residents registered with Welsh GPs. This amounted to £5.6 million in 2007/08.

2. The transfer covers the cost of the net flow of cross-border patients, i.e. the number of English residents registered with Welsh GPs minus the number of Welsh residents registered with English GPs.

3. It covers the cost of Hospital and Community Health Services (HCHS) for these patients but excludes the cost of primary care and prescribing, because funding for these services has always been on a registered, rather than resident, population basis.

4. The net flow of patients from England to Wales is about 5,000 patients.

5. The Department of Health is discussing with the Welsh Assembly Government a proposal to replace this annual block transfer arrangement. The funds would be allocated to the PCTs concerned to enable them to reach local agreements with the relevant LHBs.

23 May 2008