§ Mr. OatenTo ask the Secretary of State for Health how much his Department plans to spend on centralised sterile service facilities for the NHS in England during the(a) 2003–04 and (b) 2004–05 financial years. [90292]
§ Mr. LammyThe following figures represent money for investment in new and improved services, it does not include the cost of day-to-day running of sterile services departments or money invested by health bodies from their own resources
1£114 million brought forward from 2002–03.
- 2003–04: £134 million1
- 2004–05: £30 million
§ Mr. OatenTo ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) if he will make a statement on his Department's plans for a new network of centralised sterile service facilities for the NHS in England; [90303]
(2). what discussions his Department has had with suppliers for the proposed network of centralised sterile service facilities for the NHS in England; and which suppliers these were; [90304]
(3). whether procurement for the new network of centralised sterile service facilities for the NHS in England will be on a single national basis or by sub-region; [90305]
(4). when his Department will begin procurement for the new network of centralised sterile service facilities for the NHS in England; and if procurement will be open to a full range of suppliers; [90291]
(5). how many units will comprise the new network of centralised sterile service facilities for the NHS in England. [90293]
686W
§ Mr. Lammy[holding answer 13 January 2003]: We envisage a mixed economy in decontamination services provided to the national health service. Local needs and facilities will determine the way in which the service is provided locally but all will be provided to a nationally agreed set of standards.
It is not possible to say at this stage how many centres there will be in total, nor how many procurements there will be, or when they will take place, but we expect the first—covering the Bradford Hospitals NHS Trust and The Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust—to be advertised in the Official Journal of the European Communities (OJEC) before the end of 2002–03. All procurements will be carried out in accordance with the rules of the European Union.
The Department is actively seeking to develop the market in sterile services and is encouraging new entrants as well as existing suppliers to participate in procurements. To that end, officials have met existing and potential suppliers on over 100 occasions: in specially arranged conferences and workshops, private meetings with individual companies, visits to reference sites and meetings with trade associations. It would be a breach of commercial confidentiality to disclose the names of the companies involved.