§ Mr. O'Brienasked the Secretary of State for Social Services (1) why the National Blood Products Laboratory at Elstree is behind schedule; when it was originally due to open; and if he will make a statement;
(2) when the National Blood Products Laboratory at Elstree will be open;
(3) what estimate he has made of the financial implications for regional health authorities of the delay in the operation of the National Blood Products Laboratory at Elstree.
§ Mrs. Currie[pursuant to her reply, 24 October 1986]: We expect the new blood products laboratory to be completed during the early part of 1987. Given the "design and build" method used for this development the completion date was impossible to forecast accurately at the outset when we had expected that completion would be a year or so earlier. There is no single identifiable reason for the building taking longer than originally expected other than the complexity of the design being greater than anticipated.
Regional health authorities will need to continue to purchase blood products commercially until the new blood products laboratory is operating fully. The cost of purchasing commercially is currently estimated at around £15 million per annum.