§ Sir George Youngasked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will make a statement about the future of the kidney transplant unit at Hammersmith Hospital.
§ Mr. MoyleThe special renal ward has been closed temporarily as part of a package of economies proposed by the North Hammersmith district management team to reduce an expected deficit of £600,000 in this financial year. I understand that the renal ward was staffed largely by agency nurses who did not need to be retained while the unit is closed. The medical executive committee proposed that kidney transplant patients should be nursed elsewhere in the hospital. The Ealing, Hammersmith and Hounslow area health authority—teaching—will be considering the whole package of economies at their meeting on 17th January.