Parliament & politics: The House: Hospitals to be ranked by cost

HIGH-SPENDING National Health Service hospitals are to be required to cut their costs after figures revealed the expense of a hip replacement varied from pounds 2,000 to pounds 8,000.

Health minister Alan Milburn announced yesterday that all NHS trusts would be ranked according to the cost of treatments in a new set of league tables aimed at improving efficiency. Average costs would be established for each treatment and targets set for hospitals.

The first cost league tables, to be published next August, will include all surgical and some medical treatments. Mr Milburn said hospitals would be "comparing not competing".