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Wheelchair Services

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will define, in reference to the wheelchair services collaborative programme, the phrase 'all teach, all learn' in his Department's press release of 27 November XNHS and wheelchair users unite in initiative to improve services". [86708]

11 Dec 2002 : Column 402W

Jacqui Smith: Across the national health service 45 services are taking part in the wheelchair service collaborative programme to improve the service that they already provide. The collaborative will operate for approximately 18 months and it is hoped that the services will share their learning and experience in order to make specific improvements.

Every service will have its part to play specifically in sharing good practice in particularly what works well for them and what could be adopted by other services to improve their own. Similarly there will be ideas that they in turn will adopt—hence the reference to everybody teaching and everybody learning.

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