§ Mr. Kirkwoodasked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will investigate the monopoly contract awarded by his Department to the London Rubber Company for the supply of disposable surgical gloves to the National Health Service; and if he will make a statement.
597W
§ Mr. Kenneth ClarkeOur Department has had no contract with the London Rubber Company since 1979. It is for health authorities to decide which of the two makes of surgeons' gloves available and approved by the Department they should buy.
Our Department inspects and approves a wide range of sterile equipment used in the NHS which meets specified safety standards. NHS authorities are advised to buy from lists of approved products. The London Rubber Company introduced the single-use latex surgeon's glove, and their product has long been approved, but despite Departmental encouragement only one other manufacturer had until recently successfully entered the field. In July 1982 Ansell, an Australian company manufacturing in Malaysia, approached the Department, but at that time its glove did not meet the Department's specification. Subsequently the Department arranged a user trial, consulted medical and nursing professional bodies about a change in specification, and inspected Ansell's Malaysian factory. The Ansell glove was approved last November and is now on sale.