§ Mr. Cartwrightasked the Secretary of State for Defence if he will set out the latest available estimate of (a) the cost of construction and equipment of the Queen Elizabeth Military Hospital, Woolwich, (b) the annual revenue costs and (c) the daily cost per occupied bed.
§ Mr. Robert C. Brown:The current estimate of the cost of building and equipping the hospital, including the associated staff accommodation and training school, is approximately £17.8 million. The estimated annual running costs of the hospital will be about £5.75 million once the hospital is fully operational. It would be misleading to give an estimate of the daily cost per occupied bed at this stage because the hospital is not yet fully operational and future bed occupancy rates cannot be forecast precisely.