§ Rev. Martin SmythTo ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will make a statement about the progress of his plans to encourage competitive tendering in the National Health Service in Northern Ireland stating for each health and social services board in Northern Ireland the services which have been contracted out, together with the amounts of the tenders submitted and the savings to be achieved in each case; and if he will list the services which were tendered for by in-house teams and the outcome of such bids, together with reasons given by boards for accepting or rejecting such bids.
§ Mr. NeedhamTo date 12 per cent., by value, of domestic, catering and laundry services have been market tested and 10 contracts have been awarded (three contracted out and seven retained in-house). A further 22 per cent., by value, of these services are out to tender.
The services contracted out are as follows:
Board and service contracted out Amount of tender £ Net estimated savings £ Eastern Board Domestic services—Lisburn unit of management Lagan Valley hospital 343,000 140,000 Community facilities 41,000 Western Board Catering services—Londonderry, Limavady and Strabane unit of management 1,881,000 1,160,000 In-house teams have tendered for 11 contracts and have been successful in seven as follows:
Catering
- Omagh and Fermanagh units of management
Domestic services
- Antrim hospitals
- Antrim—other facilities
- Ballymena hospitals
- Ballymena—other facilities
- Magherafelt and Cookstown hospitals
- Magherafelt and Cookstown—other facilities
The identity of tenderers for particular elements of their services is essentially a matter for the boards themselves. The reasons given by boards for accepting or rejecting such bids reflect the criteria set out by the Department, which emphasised the importance of maintaining a high-quality service.
§ Rev. Martin SmythTo ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what information he has about penalty point systems for private contractors undertaking work in the National Health Service; and if he will call for a report from the area boards as to their policies in this respect.
§ Mr. NeedhamNo penalty point systems are in operation in any of the contracts awarded by the health and social services boards in Northern Ireland. However, contracts do contain default clauses that enable boards to take preventive measures if the contractor fails to meet the contracted standard. Boards will be establishing formal systems to monitor contract compliance and ensure a high-quality service is provided.
§ Rev. Martin SmythTo ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland whether he will call for a report from the56W chairman of the Eastern health and social services board as to his board's policies for consultation with the work force about competitive tendering issues.
§ Mr. NeedhamNo. We are confident that the board has consulted with representatives of the work force, in keeping with normal practice.