§ Mr. Viggersasked the Secretary of State for social Services (1) what is the proposed publication date for the report on cot deaths, the research for which was carried out between 1976 and 1979;
(2) whether, following studies into the cause of cot deaths carried out in Gosport, he will promote a wider study of the subject based on the Gosport experience.
§ Mr. John PattenThe Department does not expect to receive the final report of the multi-centre study of post-neonatal mortality, which has been co-ordinated by the 565W medical care research unit at Sheffield university, until the end of November. Arrangements for making the report available to all interested parties are currently under consideration. We will then be able to decide, in the light of both that report and the experiment at Gosport, how best to promote any effective programmes of preventive action, and any further studies into possible causes of hitherto unexplained "cot deaths".