HC Deb 28 March 2000 vol 347 cc127-8W
Mr. Dalyell

To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much funding he has allocated to allow officials of his Department to study the co-ordination of transplant availability and organ procurement in Spain; and what were the results of the study, with special reference to early awareness by authorities of potential kidney donors. [115214]

Mr. Denham

As a matter of course, officials at the Department are in regular and frequent communication

Mr. Denham

Each National Health Service trust has a nurse executive director who is a member of the trust board. Some are titled "chief nurse", and they could, if they so chose, be called "matron". They are therefore very senior people with influence in their organisation and are responsible for, among other things, quality and nursing standards.

Some are also patient services managers and their role equates more closely to the span of responsibility of the traditional matron. The role of the matron therefore still exists in many trusts across England, albeit with a different title.