§ Mr. WilkinsonTo ask the Secretary of State for Health how many isolation wards for the treatment of tuberculosis have been opened in NHS hospitals since May 1997; in which hospitals; and on what dates. [156535]
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§ Yvette Cooper[holding answer 2 April 2001]: Information on the number of isolation wards in hospitals is not collected centrally.
Different levels of isolation are required depending on the infectious (or suspected infectious) nature of a tuberculosis case. Each patient is considered on a case-by-case basis and therefore, the need for isolation facilities is made at local level.
The Department has published recommendations on isolation in two documents. One in June 1996 "Recommendations for the prevention and control of tuberculosis at local level" and again in September 1998 in the document entitled "UK guidance on the prevention and control of transmission of HIV-related tuberculosis and Drug-resistant, including Multiple Drug-resistant tuberculosis".