§ Mr. TrendTo ask the Secretary of State for Health how many expressions of interest she has approved for the fifth wave of NHS trusts.
§ Mrs. Virginia BottomleyI have given permission to eight units to prepare National Health Service trust applications in the fifth wave. They are as listed. Further expressions of interest are expected. This wave of NHS trusts will mean that the separation of organisations responsible for the purchasing and providing of hospital and community health services could be virtually complete from April 1995.
The expressions of interest are as follows:
West Midlands regional health authority
- Solihull Hospital (withdrew application in the fourth wave);
- Wolverhampton Primary Healthcare;
- South Birmingham Acute;
Trent regional health authority
- Fosse Health (Glenfrith Unit);
South West Thames regional health authority
- Pathfinder (Wandsworth Mental Health);
North East Thames regional health authority
- Essex and Herts Community;
- Essex and Herts Acute;
- Homerton.
A complete list of those directly managed units not awaiting decisions in the fourth wave has been placed in the Library. This list updates information my hon. Friend the Minister for Health gave the hon. Member for Don Valley (Mr. Redmond) on 16 June 1993 at columns 617-18.