Written question asked by Evan Harris (Liberal Democrat) on Monday, 4 March 2002, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Thursday, 21 March 2002. It was answered by Lord Hutton of Furness (Labour) on Thursday, 21 March 2002 on behalf of the Department of Health.

Dept of Health

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how much the provision of (a) personal protective equipment and (b) decontamination equipment to hospital accident and emergency departments has cost in each of the last three years. - Includes figures.

Answer: Dr. Evan Harris: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much the provision of (a) personal protective equipment and (b) decontamination equipment to hospital accident and emergency departments has cost in each of the last three years [40811] Mr. Hutton: A total of £150 million has been invested in the Accident and Emergency (A&E) Modernisation Programme in three waves since 1998. It is the biggest investment in A&E services since the start of the national health service. The final wave of funding was made available to the NHS in January 2001. The investment has provided various improvements to A&E services which include decontamination facilities. However, there is no complete breakdown in terms of cost as to specific details within a scheme. A £5 million capital allocation has been made in 2001-2002 to secure, through national contracts, the provision of mobile decontamination units and personal protective equipment (PPE).

Secondary information

Type: Written question
Reference: 40811; 382 c535W;382 c533W
Session: 2001-02
Subjects: Contamination Ambulance services Hospitals Expenditure Equipment Protection Protective clothing Accident and emergency departments
Contains statistics: Yes
Link: View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk