§ Mrs. Curtis-ThomasTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the NHS pilot procurement initiative ProCure21 in the north-west and the midlands; and what the time-frame is for the initiative to be taken up by all regions of the UK. [38689]
§ Mr. Hutton[holding answer 28 February 2002]: NHS ProCure 21 aims to deliver better capital procurement in the national health service, through programmes on better design, enabling the NHS to be a better client, performance management and partnering. The first three elements apply to all capital schemes in the NHS. Partnering is currently being piloted in the north-west and west midlands regions. The selection of Principal Supply Chain Partners is currently in progress, and an evaluation will be made once the partnering programme is under way and a decision taken on how quickly we will be able to roll it out nationally.