§ Mr. Sydney Irvingasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what plans she has for the replacement of Long Reach Isolation Hospital, Dartford.
§ Dr. OwenLong Reach Hospital will have to be closed at or near the end of the year to enable works in connection with 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, which are being arranged.
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, 30W 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.