§ Mr. KeetchTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether he plans to make the short-term measure announced in December 2000 temporarily to supplement NHS treatment of armed forces personnel with private provision into a permanent policy; and if he will make a statement. [54129]
§ Dr. Moonie[holding answer 7 May 2002]: I assume that the hon. Member is referring to my answer of 9 January 2001, Official Report, column 482W to the hon. Member for Gosport (Mr. Viggers) in which I referred to contracts having been placed with private sector providers to help return personnel to fully deployable status. We have continued to fund a limited amount of private health care treatment, where this is justified, under central and local arrangements. For the long term, in announcing recently the outcome of the quinquennial review of our medical agencies on 11 April 2002, Official Report, columns 556–57W, we stated that while developing and strengthening our relationship with the NHS, we would also make use of private sector healthcare providers as necessary.