HC Deb 26 February 2003 vol 400 cc619-20W
Dr. Fox

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what guidance on the provision of hospital accommodation his Department has issued since December 2000. [98925]

Mr. Hutton

The Department of Health has issued no further guidance on hospital accommodation for doctors in training since the issue of Health Service Circular 2000/036 in December 2000.

Dr. Fox

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what types of hospital accommodation are covered by the guidelines issued by his Department in December 2000. [98926]

Mr. Hutton

The December 2000 guidelines cover accommodation provided to doctors, either because of statutory or contractual requirements or where doctors are voluntarily resident and are required to provide an on-call service from their accommodation. Other accommodation is covered by the Houses in Multiple Occupancy Regulations and other local authority standards to ensure basic habitability.

Mr. Hutton

The available data is shown in the table. Information relating to Wales is a matter for the devolved administration.

Dr. Fox

To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much the Government spent on improving(a) residential and (b) on-call hospital accommodation in England and Wales in 2002. [98927]

Mr. Hutton

Improvement of residential accommodation in hospitals is the responsibility of the individual trust concerned and no details are held centrally on expenditure. However, in addition to that spent by trusts, the Department provides a further £2 million annually to support capital improvements to junior doctors' living and working conditions, much of which is used to improve accommodation.

We are unable to provide information for Wales, as healthcare there is the responsibility of the National Assembly for Wales.