§ Mr. Edwin Wainwrightasked the Minister of Health if he will now make a statement, giving the major reasons, on the continued postponement of the commencement of the building of the new Mexborough Montagu Hospital.
§ Mr. K. RobinsonThe original Hospital Plan (Cmnd. 1604, January, 1962) included major developments for this part of the Sheffield region in the following order: Doncaster, Barnsley, Rotherham, Mexborough. In successive revisions of the Plan this order of priority has been maintained, but because the cost of schemes included in the original Plan will be considerably greater than was then estimated it will not be possible, even with the greater resources now being provided for hospital building, to make a start on the new district general hospital for Mexborough as early as was originally hoped.
§ Mr. Edwin Wainwrightasked the Minister of Health what are the limitations of the operating theatres at the Mexborough Montagu Hospital; how far these theatres fall below the modern standards established in new hospitals; and on how many days either of the two theatres have been out of commission during the past two years.
§ Mr. K. RobinsonThere are no limitations on the use of these operating theatres. They fall below the most modern standards in a number of respects, but have been considerably improved in recent years, notably by the provision of air conditioning. During the last two years they have been out of commission for a total of 26 days each, mainly for general repairs and redecoration.