HC Deb 30 June 1993 vol 227 c549W
Ms Primarolo

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to her answer of 21 June,Official Report, column 28, on the number of neo-natal cots and nurses, if she will specify the definition of particular local circumstances.

Mr. Sackville

The organisation of neo-natal care services varies from region to region and is dependent on a number of different factors: the number of births, the case mix—the balance between special care and the different levels of neonatal intensive care—the local geography and variations in demand. None of this can be prescribed centrally and must therefore be for local decision, taking into account any guidance from professional and other bodies.