HC Deb 19 February 1973 vol 851 cc44-5W
Mr. William Hannan

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will give for each of the hospital management committee areas in Scotland, the number of geriatric beds available, the number of geriatric beds needed to meet his Department's norm and the number of patients awaiting such beds.

Mr. Gordon Campbell

Boards of management do not serve specific geographical areas, and hospitals administered by them cannot be directly related to populations. The information in respect of regional hospital board areas is set out in the table below:

EEC will affect the control of drug safety in Great Britain; and if he will make a statement.

Sir K. Joseph

All the member countries have systems for authorising the marketing of proprietary medicinal products in the interests of safety. A number of draft directives have been submitted by the Commission to the Council, the objective of which is to achieve harmonisation of these requirements with a view to removing, as envisaged by Article 100 of the Treaty of Rome, the barrier to movement of medicinal products within the Community resulting from differing national requirements. As a member of the EEC the United Kingdom is now taking part in discussions at Brussels about these draft directives, and there is no risk that the essential safeguards that are built into the present United Kingdom arrangements under the Medicines Act 1968 will be weakened.