asked the Secretary of State for Scotland when the new general hospital at Airdrie will be completed; when the first patients will be admitted; how many beds will be provided; what branches of medical service will be available; and what is the latest estimated cost of the project.

The estimated date of completion is December 1975: the first patients should be admitted in June 1976. The final complement of beds will be 584, covering the normal range of medical services in a district general hospital. The latest estimate of cost is £8·9 million.