§ Chris GraylingTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what service level agreements are in place between the Health Protection Agency and former Public Health Laboratory Service laboratories to monitor the outbreak of SARS. [109068]
§ Ms BlearsThe principal role in monitoring the outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) is for the Health Protection Agency's (HPA) Communicable Disease Surveillance Centre and for its specialist and reference laboratories. There is, accordingly, no requirement for service level agreements on this topic between the HPA and the former laboratories of the Public Health Laboratory Service. The HPA is in the process of agreeing service level agreements with relevant National Health Service trusts for the surveillance and response activities of these laboratories.
§ Chris GraylingTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what role the former Public Health Laboratory Service laboratories are playing in monitoring the SARS outbreak. [109069]
§ Ms BlearsThe role of the former Public Health Laboratories Service laboratories is to isolate and identify micro-organisms from clinical samples, report results to the Health Protection Agency's Communicable Disease Surveillance Centre (CDSC) and refer samples and isolates to specialist and reference laboratories as appropriate. The CDSC has the leading292W role in monitoring the incidence of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) and managing the outbreak.