Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the total cost to the public purse of NHS Direct has been in each year since its formation in March 1998.
As a National Health Service trust, NHS Direct generated income to cover its operating activities, usually resulting in a small surplus. The majority of this income was earned from NHS bodies such as strategic health authorities and primary care trusts. The amounts reported each year in NHS Direct’s annual report and accounts for its net surplus and its operating expenses were as follows:
Financial year | Retained surplus / (deficit) for the year | Total operating expenses £000s |
2004/05 | 1,011 | 147,351 |
2005/06 | 4,420 | 151,316 |
2006/07 | 2,329 | 145,560 |
2007/08 | 5,062 | 141,265 |
2008/09 (restated) | 2,529 | 159,540 |
2009/10 | 448 | 190,227 |
2010/11 | 2,733 | 145,819 |
2011/12 | 488 | 142,881 |
2012/13 | (68,282) | 207,547 |
2013/14 | (30,713) | 109,546 |
The Department does not hold data for earlier financial years.
The data for 2008-09 have been restated to reflect the first time adoption of International Financial Reporting Standards, thereby ensuring comparability with subsequent financial years. The data for earlier financial years were prepared using the UK Generally Accepted Accounting Practice applicable at the time.
NHS Direct was dissolved in 2014. Operating expenses shown above for 2012-13 and 2013-14 include costs of decommissioning.