§ 6. Mr. William Hamiltonasked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will make a statement on the progress being made in the standardisation of electrical fittings in National Health Service hospitals.
§ The Joint Under-Secretary of State for Health and Social Security (Dr. John Dunwoody)The importance of adopting a standard socket outlet to enable appliances to be readily connected at any point in a hospital where they may be needed has been stressed in the past at meetings with the engineers of hospital authorities.
§ Mr. HamiltonCan my hon. Friend say what progress has been made in this regard in the last few years, and whether there is any evidence that lives have been lost or put in jeopardy resulting from failure to expedite the process of standardisation in this sphere?
§ Dr. DunwoodyOn the second part of the question, I have no direct evidence that this is so, and I have examined at least two cases. We are making progress in standardising electrical equipment. Our aim is to provide a sufficient number of 13-amp sockets for the convenient use of mobile appliances throughout all hospitals either by rewiring or by replacing existing 15-amp points with 13-amp points.