§ Tim LoughtonTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what the funding levels were for the Public Health Laboratory Service in each of the six years before its abolition; and if he will make a statement. [144370]
§ Miss Melanie JohnsonThe funding levels for the Public Health Laboratory Service (PHLS) in each of the six years in question are shown in the table.
(£000) Revenue Capital Total 2002–03 62,867 4,337 67,206 2001–02 58,207 5,355 63,562 2000–01 58,423 3,695 62,118 1999–2000 59,211 3,924 63,135 1998–99 58,321 2,030 60,351 1997–98 56,385 3,239 59,624 Source:
PHLS audited published annual accounts.
§ Tim LoughtonTo ask the Secretary of State for Health for what reasons the regional networks of microbiology laboratories were disbanded. [144371]
§ Miss Melanie JohnsonThe Public Health Laboratory Service's regional network of microbiology laboratories has been replaced by the Health Protection Agency's (HPA) local and regional services division, which has a network of eight regional laboratories. This is supported by more than 300 National Health Service microbiology pathology laboratories across the country. The HPA has regional microbiologists (a newly created post in microbiology), who, working with regional epidemiologists and local communicable disease control teams. ensure that the public health outputs of the laboratories in their regions are maintained. This is a more comprehensive coverage of the public health needs across the country than was previously possible, filling some of the surveillance gaps identified by the Chief Medical Officer in his strategy for combating infectious diseases, Getting Ahead of the Curve.