§ Mr. DrewTo ask the Secretary of State for Health when he expects to make an announcement on the appointment of a chief executive for the new Avon/Gloucestershire and Wiltshire health authority; and for what reason it has not been possible to make that appointment already. [27314]
§ Ms Blears[holding answer 15 January 2002]: The appointment of Mr. Mark Outhwaite as chief executive was announced on 14 January. It was not possible to complete the process of making appointments to all 28 strategic health authorities before Christmas and the intervening holiday period inevitable imposed a delay. Now that the appointment has been made, work on setting up the new health authority and preparing it for its role will go ahead at the same speed as other areas.