§ Mr. Simsasked the Secretary of State for Social Services why work to the value of over £15,000 to convert Cray Valley Hospital to a smallpox isolation hospital has been put in hand by the South-East Regional Health Authority before any public consultation has taken place and the project has received the approval of the area health authority.
§ Dr. OwenAs I told the House on 1st November in answer to a Question from my right hon. Friend the Member for Dartford (Mr. Irving),
Long Reach Isolation Hospital"—Dartford—will have to be closed at or near the end of the year to enable works in connection with 536W the River Thames barrage to proceed. A purpose-built replacement unit is being provided in the grounds of the nearby Joyce Green Hospital. Until this is ready for use—in about two years' time—the Cray Valley Hospital, now disused, will be available for this purpose if required, subject to consultations with the community health councils and the Joint Consultative Committee of the Bromley Borough Council and the Bromley Area Health Authority … Both the permanent unit at Joyce Green and the Cray Valley Hospital will enjoy a comparable standard of isolation to that of Long Reach, and the standards of safety and protection from contamination for members of the general public will be as high as they have been in the past. In order to ensure this, the London borough of Bromley has kindly agreed to close that part of a public road which runs close to the Cray Valley Hospital, if the need should arise. The Bromley Area Health Authority will also offer immunisation facilities to those few people who live or work near the hospital."—[Vol. 880, c. 29–30.]It was necessary to start the conversion work at Cray Valley Hospital before completing public consultations in order to ensure that, if it is decided to reserve the hospital for smallpox cases, it will be ready when the Long Reach Isolation Hospital closes. Alternative arrangements have been carefully considered but are felt to be less satisfactory than converting Cray Valley Hospital. This action will not, however, prejudice the final decision.