§ The Countess of Marasked Her Majesty's Government:
What is the current provision of beds, equipment and staff in hospitals for the treatment of cancer patients in Birmingham, Coventry, Wolverhampton, Stoke-on-Trent and Shrewsbury; and, if provision falls below the Department of Health and Social Service guidelines for the population of the West Midland Region, what proposals there are to improve provision; and
Why the West Midland Regional Health Authority selected 1981–82 as the funding base year for radiotherapy services at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Birmingham, when the base year for other services where reductions were being sought was 1986–87; and what was the base expenditure figure; and
Why senior officers of the West Midland Regional Health Authority have publicly stated that if more money was made available for radiotherapy services in the region it would not be put into the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Birmingham, unit, when that unit serves a catchment of half the region—that is, 2.7 million people.
§ Lord SkelmersdaleCancer patients are treated in district general hospitals throughout the West Midlands. The five named by the noble Countess provide specialised cancer treatment, including radiotherapy. The allocation of resources between all these hospitals is a matter for West Midlands Regional and District Health Authorities, to which the noble Countess may wish to direct her inquiries.