POISONS INFORMATION SERVICE

That this House expresses its concern about the threat to the future of the Guy's and St Thomas' Poisons Unit (GTPU) which provides a 24-hour poisons advice and support service to clinical staff in both human and animal healthcare; notes that it has operated continuously for 44 years and has answered over 2.8 million telephone enquiries; further expresses its concern that the Health Protection Agency has decided not to offer the Guy's and St Thomas' Foundation Trust a contract to provide a poisons information service of which the Veterinary Poisons Information Service (VPIS) is a part; recognises that the loss of the VPIS would have serious implications for animal welfare; and calls on the Department of Health to take urgent action to secure the long-term future of the VPIS regardless of the outcome of the current discussions between the Guy's and St Thomas' Foundation Trust and the Health Protection Agency.