HC Deb 26 January 1995 vol 253 cc289-90W
Mr. Bayley

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list all of his Department's medical and health services which(a) have been or (b) are intended to be market tested; and if he will indicate the outcomes of market testing in those cases where the exercise has been completed.

Mr. Soames

At this stage a number of medical and health services are being considered for competition but none is yet completed. The Department is currently involved in garrison market tests which include health services at Catterick, Aldershot, Salisbury Plain and Colchester and of all primary and secondary health services in British forces, Germany, with the exception of the provision of primary medical and dental care at RAF main operating bases—RAF Bruggen and RAF Laarbruch—and certain other locations remote from the main garrisons. Operational Army medical units are also excluded from the exercise.

Mr. Bayley

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what is the timetable for market testing the services provided by the RAF hospital at Wegberg, Germany.

Mr. Soames

The Department is currently in the process of market testing the provision of health services in Germany, including those provided by the RAF hospital at Wegberg, and hopes to make an announcement on the outcome of this exercise by 31 July 1995.

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