§ Mr. ViggersTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) when he expects inquiries into medical and nursing practices at Gosport War Memorial Hospital to be concluded; [186616]
1405W(2) how many man hours have been expended by staff at Gosport War Memorial Hospital in responding to inquiries about medical and nursing practices at the hospital. [186617]
§ Paul GogginsI can confirm that the investigation by Hampshire Police is ongoing. To date over 90 cases have been examined by a panel of experts and some of these have in turn been identified as requiring more detailed scrutiny. The investigation of the first four of these cases should be concluded by September 2004, but it is likely that the inquiry will stretch into 2005. Every effort has been made to ensure that the families and other interested parties are aware of the timescales involved.
Information is not available centrally on the amount of time which hospital staff haw used in responding to police inquiries.