§ Mr. Ashleyasked the Secretary of State for Social Services (1) how many (a) National Health Service hospitals and (b) private hospitals have facilities to carry out liver transplants;
(2) whether there has been any cutback in the beds used for liver transplant work because the health authority had insufficient resources to staff them.
§ Mr. Whitney[pursuant to his reply, 13 November 1985, c. 202]: The operating theatre and intensive care facilities necessary for liver transplantations are available in a very large number of NHS and private hospitals; the important factor is the availability of appropriately trained and experienced staff. Within the National Health Service, the supra regional arrangements encourage the concentration of this expertise within the designated supra regional centres. I am not aware that in any of these centres beds are specifically allocated to liver transplantation, so the question of unstaffed beds does not arise. Information about facilities in private hospitals is not available.