HC Deb 18 March 1996 vol 274 cc91-2W
Mr. Morgan

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, pursuant to his answers of 4 March 1996,Official Report, column 99 and 12 March 1996, Official Report, column 536, (1) what approval was (a) sought and (b) given from his Department for the inclusion of the undertaking in the emergency admissions action plan to discuss levels of community care with unitary authorities; [21160]

(2) what consent was (a) sought and (b) given from his Department prior to the inclusion in the emergency admissions action plan of the undertaking for his Department to oversee and ensure adequate consideration and liaison between trust commissions and general practitioners concerning proposed general practitioner out of hours schemes. [21161]

Mr. Hague

The NHS representatives who prepared the action plan proposed a number of recommendations, only some of which were addressed to my Department. It would have been surprising had the NHS team involved felt they had needed to ask my Department for permission to make recommendations that they felt could form part of an effective response to the demand for emergency admissions.

Mr. Morgan

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, pursuant to his answer of 4 March 1996,Official Report, column 99, if he will list the number and ranks of his departmental officials who took part in the emergency admissions action plan; and what part they took in the proceedings. [21159]

Mr. Hague

None of my permanent civil servants were directly involved in the development of the NHS action plan to address the issue of rising emergency admissions. Mr. David Cliffe, an NHS manager seconded to the Health Department, contributed to the work on developing a best practice guide to inform the contracting process.

Before embarking on the exercise, representatives of the NHS discussed the main issues involved and possible approaches with the Health Department's executive committee, which is chaired by Mr. Peter Gregory, director of the Health Department, and includes as members Dr. Deirdre Hine, chief medical officer, and Miss Marion Bull, chief nursing officer. The authors of the action plan met the executive committee on 29 February 1996 to present their report and its recommendations.