§ Mr. Ralph Howellasked the Secretary of State for Social Services how many hospitals have actual gate control of goods in and out; and what percentage of total National Health Service establishment this represents.
§ Mr. Kenneth ClarkeWe do not collect centrally detailed information of this kind about each of the hospitals in the NHS and the cost of doing so would be excessive. We recently asked every health authority to review its policy on security in order to reduce the excessive losses of goods from hospitals. We expect them to consider the feasibility of introducing more gate control as part of the review.