§ Mrs. FyfeTo ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will publish and place in the Library a list of all health projects involved in the private finance initiative as at September, setting out in each case the name of the health board or trust, the name of the private firm, and a brief description of the nature of the financial arrangements; and if he will also publish(a) the total of elderly care beds in the scheme and (b) the steps he is taking to ensure proper medical and social care in the light of the recent fatal accident inquiry into the death of an elderly resident.
§ Lord James Douglas-HamiltonA list of major health projects which have been completed involving private sector finance at September 1994 has been placed in the Library.
The number of elderly care beds provided by the private sector following approval of schemes by my officials is 785. There may, however, be other projects involving private finance which have been completed, approval of which falls within the delegated limit of the health board or NHS trust concerned. Information on these projects is not held centrally.
In each of the projects involving elderly care and the private finance initiative, the patients are still under NHS 969W care and health boards therefore are responsible, through contracts set, to ensure the quality of the medical and social care provided.