§ Mr. HumeTo ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what are the particular circumstances in Northern Ireland which underlie the Government's decision to sponsor trust status for social service units in Northern Ireland.
§ Mr. HanleyThe health and personal social services in Northern Ireland have an integrated management structure which has been delivering high-quality services for many years. The Government's proposals for reform, set out in the White Paper "Working for Patients", extend to Northern Ireland and the benefits inherent in those reforms should be applied with equal advantage to the people of Northern Ireland.
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§ Mr. HumeTo ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will list the applications received for health and social services trust status in Northern Ireland to date, indicating those that have been successful, those that are pending, those that have been withdrawn, and those postponed or unsuccessful and indicating the likely timetable for introduction.
§ Mr. HanleyIn the first round in Northern Ireland, one application for HSS trust status was received from the Royal group of hospitals. It was established as an HSS trust from 1 April 1992 and will come into operation on 1 April 1993.
Applications for trust status in the second round have been received from the following units:
- Belfast city hospital
- Craigavon area hospitals group
- Mater Infirmorum hospital
- Ulster, North Down and Ards hospital unit
- Green Park unit of management
- Eastern ambulance service
- North Down and Ards community unit
- North and West Belfast community unit
- South and East Belfast community unit
- Down and Lisburn unit of management
A decision on the applications which have been successful in the second round, and the date on which they will come into operation will be made shortly.
To date, no unit has withdrawn its application.
§ Mr. HumeTo ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what steps are being taken to encourage more HSS units in Northern Ireland to apply for trust status.
§ Mr. HanleyMy noble Friend will announce the launch of the third round of trusts shortly. The chief executive will then write to all directly managed units inviting expressions of interest in the third round of HSS trusts. It will be a matter for those units to decide for themselves whether to make an application for trust status.