Mr. Jim Callaghanasked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he is satisfied that fire precautions and contingencies for the evacuation of geriatric patients in hospitals in the Greater Manchester Metropolitan County are adequate.
§ Mr. MoyleEach NHS hospital is expected to have a carefully prepared programme dealing with fire precautions, fire fighting and the movement or evacuation of patients in an emergency. The North Western Regional Health Authority has informed me that its programme for fire precautions and fire fighting is adequate and that staff have been instructed in the movement and evacuation of patients in an emergency. This programme would of course cover geriatric as well as other patients.