HC Deb 09 July 1980 vol 988 c185W
Mr. Carter-Jones

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he is satisfied that the regional health authorities with poor records on perinatal and neonatal mortality are allocating sufficient money to secure improvements in their special and intensive baby care units as suggested in the planning guidelines issued by his Department in 1979; and if he will make a statement.

Dr. Vaughan

We all want to see perinatal and neonatal mortality rates continue to fall throughout the country, but we must leave it to health authorities to decide what measures are most likely to achieve this in their own areas, in the light of local needs and the resources available. Plainly, improvements in special and intensive care will often be among these.