§ Lord Morris of Manchesterasked Her Majesty's Government:
What monitoring is undertaken of the adequacy of facilities for wheelchair users and other severely disabled people in accident and emergency units; with which hospitals they are now satisfied in this regard; with which they are not satisfied; and if there is any action they will be taking to improve the facilities. [HL1722]
§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Health (Lord Hunt of Kings Heath)This sort of monitoring is not carried out centrally. Section 21 of the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 ensures reasonable access to services by disabled people. The Government have issued guidance to the National Health Service (Health Service Circular 1999/999) on implementing Section 21 that requires all providers of NHS services to have completed a programme of implementation by 2004.