§ 33. Mr. Fatchettasked the Secretary of State for Social Services whether he has had communications with the Cambridge health authority about the award of the domestic services contract at Addenbrookes hospital.
§ Mr. Kenneth ClarkeOur officials made inquiries, on my behalf, of the district health authority to seek its reasons for not accepting the lowest tender it had received. We were satisfied that the district considered it had good grounds for its choice and made no further intervention.
Since then, our officials have been in regular communication with officers of the Cambridge health authority. Our main concern has been to ensure that the industrial action taken by trade union members has not adversely affected patient care. I am pleased to report that patient services have continued uninterrupted during the period of industrial action and that the savings resulting from the letting of this contract have been directly channelled into patient care on the Addenbrooke's site.
My hon. Friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State has also been in touch with the district health authority chairman to see how the contract has been progressing and how services have been affected by the industrial action.