asked the Minister for Health the administrative costs of (1) his Department and (2) the health boards.
Written Answers. - Departmental Administrative Costs.
125.
The total estimated administrative costs of the Department of Health in 1988 amount to £6.87 million. This includes the central office for the registration of births, deaths and marriages which employs 49 staff and the new Health Promotion Unit, which incorporates the functions of the Health Education Bureau.
Health board financial systems do not allow for the apportiontment of total costs by staff category. Two per cent of health board staff are engaged in administrative work at the various regional headquarters. A further 8 per cent of staff are employed in a "front line" administrative capacity in hospitals and in community care offices. These staff are engaged in, inter alia, processing hospital admissions, medical records, medical card applications and registration. Administrative grades are, of course, subject to the same level of reduction in 1988 as other health service staff grades.