§ 112. Mr. Roy Hughesasked the Secretary of State for Wales what percentage of the additional £250 million to be spent on the hospital building programme in the next five years will be spent in Wales.
§ Mr. Peter ThomasI assume that the hon. Member has in mind the hospital building figures for two five-year periods relating to England given by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Social Services in his speech to the British Medical Association on 8th February. In Wales, the expected aggregate amount for the five years 1971–72—1975–76 is about £43 million; and the aggregate for the preceding five years, during which the relevant expenditure in Wales was proportionately high because of the building of the University Hospital of Wales, was about £41 million on a comparable price basis.
§ Mr. Roy Hughesasked the Secretary of State for Wales if he will list the new projects and developments that are envisaged in Wales as a result of the increased amount to be spent on the hospital building programme in the next five years, specifying in particular the effects there will be on the Royal Gwent Hospital, Newport.
§ Mr. Peter ThomasThe Welsh Hospital Board is currently revising its building programmes in the light of its latest financial allocations. The redevelopment of Royal Gwent Hospital, Newport, is already proceeding with all possible speed.
§ Mr. Roy Hughesasked the Secretary of State for Wales what effect the Government's new policy in regard to community hospitals is likely to have on the hospital service in Wales; and which of the hospitals which the Welsh Hospital Board had intended to close will now remain open.
§ Mr. Peter ThomasI am keeping under consideration the developing pattern of hospital services including the smaller hospitals in Wales. Current proposals for closures and changes of use of hospitals in Wales already take account of the possible rôle of the community hospitals.