HL Deb 09 May 2001 vol 625 c215WA
Lord Hylton

asked Her Majesty's Government:

Whether the European Union-funded new general hospital in Gaza is now fully staffed and functioning; and, if not, what actions they are taking to bring it into operation. [HL2065]

Baroness Ramsay of Cartvale

The new EU-funded general hospital in Gaza is not yet fully staffed. The hospital now has between 550–600 of the 800 staff needed. All of the hospital departments are now open, and approximately 160 of the 238 available beds are occupied.

The hospital, in common with other medical establishments across the Occupied Territories, has an acute shortage of nurses and junior staff. A training college has been established at the hospital to try to remedy the situation. The continuing violence and sustained closures in the Occupied Territories have been serious obstacles to recruitment.

The hospital's international management team are working hard to remedy the situation, including considering the possibility of part-time working and allocating the more routine tasks to assistants/ auxiliaries to free the qualified nursing staff for more critical duties.