§ Mr. Moonmanasked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will make a statement on the opening date of the Liverpool Teaching Hospital; and what technical and operational problems remain.
§ Mr. MoyleThe target date for admitting the first patients is October 1978. Problems relating to fire precautions have been overcome and no further serious technical problems are evident. A Commissioning Committee of the Liverpool Area Health Authority (Teaching) is coordinating preparations for the hospital to he brought into use, including the determination of operational and personnel policies and the ordering of equipment; and the authority issued on 21st November a consultative document which sets out its proposals for rationalising existing hospital services as beds become available in the new hospital. The area health authority, and the Mersey Regional Health Authority, will also be taking into account the recommendations of the committee of inquiry to which I referred in my reply to my hon. Friend the Member for Liverpool, Garston (Mr. Loyden) on 10th November.—[Vol. 938, c.202–3]—The health authorities inform me that the commissioning programme is on target and that they are satisfied with progress to date; but, given the scale on which services have to be redeployed, it is impossible to forecast all the problems that may arise.