§ Mr. Martyn JonesTo ask the Secretary of State for Health when he will be announcing his decision about the future of the Liverpool blood transfusion service; and if he will make a statement. [12287]
§ Mrs. EllmanTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what representations he has received(a) directly and (b) indirectly from clinicians and their professional associations since 1 May in respect of the proposals to remove blood processing and testing from the Liverpool blood centre; and if he will publish those representations. [12295]
759W
§ Mr. BoatengMy right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Health has announced the setting up of an independent review into clinical concerns raised about the proposals for the transfer of bulk processing and testing of blood from Liverpool to Manchester. Professor John Cash, president of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh and former director of the blood transfusion service in Scotland, is leading that review.
On 8 September, Professor Cash submitted an urgent interim report to my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State in which he advised that, given that the original plans were then largely implemented, and in particular the run-down of experienced and skilled staff in the Liverpool centre,
it is now in the best interests of patients in Merseyside and the surrounding area that the transfer of bulk blood processing and testing to Manchester goes ahead as planned on 19 September.On 9 September, the Secretary of State announced his reluctant acceptance of that recommendation on grounds of patient safety.However, the Secretary of State also made it clear that that was not the end of the matter. Professor Cash is to make a final report in November, when he will advise on how blood services can be developed to meet the needs of people in Merseyside and the surrounding areas as well as the requirements of local clinicians. Meanwhile, two steps have already been taken to aid that development. In line with the interim recommendations made by Professor Cash, the Secretary of State announced in September the appointment of two experts, Professor Alistair Bellingham and Dr. Ian Gilmore, to two critical new posts. Their respective roles are transition director of the Liverpool blood centre, and chair of a Merseyside and area clinical user group set up to monitor the quality of blood services in Merseyside and north Wales. Both Professor Bellingham and Dr. Gilmore have an important part to play in working with local clinicians to ensure the safety and the reliability of the supply of blood components to local hospitals.
We shall decide what further measures may be required when we have seen Professor Cash's final report.
As regards the number of representations which Ministers have received from clinicians on this issue, as I said in my reply to a similar question from my hon. Friend the Member for Liverpool, Riverside (Mrs. Ellman) on 1 July, column 145, separate records are not kept of the particular categories of people who make such representations. We estimate, however, that we have received around 24 representations from different clinicians or their professional associations since 1 May 1997. Copies have been passed to Professor Cash for him to consider as part of his review. They will not be published separately.