§ Mr. Gowerasked the Secretary of State for Wales whether he intends to modify the proposals set out in his consultative document, National Health Service Reorganisation in Wales, following his revised proposals for local government reorganisation.
§ Mr. Peter ThomasIn accordance with the principle that area health authorities should be coterminous with the new counties so as to facilitate close collaboration with the county councils, I now propose that there shall be three separate area health authorities covering respectively the areas of West, Mid and South Glamorgan. The administrative boundaries of the area health authorities will not of course impede the movement of patients to hospitals in other areas as appropriate.
The proposal for a South Glamorgan Area Health Authority makes it unnecessary to proceed with the proposed special teaching district committee which was to have been set up to cover part of the East Glamorgan area. I am considering instead how the constitution of the South Glamorgan Area Health Authority should be adapted to give appropriate recognition to the teaching function.