HC Deb 16 January 1995 vol 252 cc352-3W
Mrs. Beckett

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what NHS services have been privatised and which have been market tested since April 1991.

Lord James Douglas-Hamilton

[holding answer 13 January 1995]: Since April 1991, the Building Division of the Common Services Agency of the NHS in Scotland has been privatised through a sale as a going concern following a tendering exercise.

Over the same period the following services have been market tested to a differing extent by health boards, the Common Services Agency and NHS trusts:

  • cleaning
  • catering
  • portering
  • grounds and estates maintenance
  • linen and laundry
  • electrical and mechanical engineering
  • plumbing
  • vehicle maintenance
  • painting
  • financial
  • transport
  • switchboard
  • joinerwork
  • wheelchair technical support
  • clinical waste
  • window cleaning
  • air ambulance
  • sterilising

The majority of contracts for these services have been won by in-house teams and the rest by private contractors.