asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department which prisons have intensive care units; how many intensive care ambulances are available for the transfer of prisoners needing such facilities; and why, in the case of a prisoner needing such care, he is transferred to the nearest prison intensive care unit rather than to the nearest National Health Service hospital.

There are no intensive care units in prison, although four prisons have surgical units where a high standard of medical and nursing care is available for prisoners who require it. When ambulances are required to move prisoners they are provided by the local ambulance service. The choice of a prison surgical unit rather than an outside hospital depends upon the circumstances of the individual case.