HC Deb 08 September 2003 vol 410 cc219-20W
Chris Grayling

To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list the(a) Health Protection Agency and (b) NHS laboratories which are providing microbiology services for food, water and environmental testing. [127684]

Miss Melanie Johnson

The following Health Protection Agency (HPA) laboratories provide food, water and environmental testing services to local authorities in EnglandLondon Food and Water and Environmental Microbiology Laboratory; Wessex Environmental Microbiology Services, Southampton; West Midlands Health Protection Agency Regional Microbiology Laboratory, Birmingham; North East Health Protection Agency Regional Microbiology Laboratory, Newcastle; Yorkshire and the number Health Protection Agency Regional Microbiology Laboratory, Leeds; South West Health Protection Agency Regional Microbiology Laboratory, Bristol.

The HPA also directly manage the following units in National Health Service trust laboratories which provide food, water and environmental testing services to local authorities: Kent Environmental Microbiology Services, Ashford; The Sussex and Surrey Environmental Microbiology Service, Brighton; Food, Water and Environmental Laboratory, Chelmsford; Reading Environmental Microbiology Services.

The following NHS trusts provide food, water and environmental testing services to local authorities, as commissioned by the HPA in accordance with service level agreements: Carlisle Hospitals NHS Trust; Countess of Chester Hospital NHS Trust; Gloucestershire Royal NHS Trust; Hereford Hospitals NHS Trust; James Cook University Hospital NHS Trust; Mid Essex Hospital Services NHS Trust; Norfolk and Norwich University Hospitals NHS Trust; Northern Lincolnshire and Good Hospitals NHS Trust; Preston Acute Hospitals NHS Trust; Plymouth Hospitals NHS Trust; 1Queens Medical Centre, University Hospital NHS Trust, Nottingham; Royal Cornwall Hospital NHS Trust; Royal Devon and Exeter Healthcare NHS Trust; Royal Shrewsbury Hospital NHS Trust; Royal Hull Hospitals NHS Trust; Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust; University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust; University Hospitals Leicester NHS Trust; University Hospital of North Staffordshire NHS Trust. 1 This laboratory provides water and environmental services. Food testing services in this area are provided by the Northern Lincolnshire and Goole Hospitals NHS Trust.

This list relates to services to local authorities. In addition, many other NHS trusts undertake limited testing on their own environmental and water samples for hospital infection control purposes.