MP claimed for staff medical treatment
Friday, 26 June 2009 12:00 AM
By Alice Cannet
A Labour MP has confirmed claiming expenses for a member of staff to be treated at a private medical centre.
Ann Keen, health minister, said she paid £150 for a colleague injured at work to undergo an occupational health assessment.
She made the claim in 2005 before becoming health minister and there is no suggestion that the claim is in breach of the expenses rules.
Mr & Mrs Keen's expenses have been in the spotlight recently over their second home allowances and this new development comes as further evidence in the scrutiny of the couple's expenses.
In 2005, the MP, who was a parliamentary aide to the then-chancellor Gordon Brown, claimed for two health check bills for treatment at Blackheath hospital which amounted to £232.
Details on the bills were blacked out in the allowances documents published by parliament last week.
Mrs Keen explained in a statement: "This claim relates to a member of my staff who sustained an injury while at work. Following a period of agreed sickness absence, I requested an occupational health assessment for them to help them in resuming their duties.
"As my member of staff had personal access to healthcare provided by the private sector at Blackheath Hospital, they chose to manage their care in this way.
"The parliamentary authorities agreed for these assessments to be paid for under the terms and conditions of my staff's employment. The redactions in the released documents relate to patient confidentiality."
The Keens were under public inspection this week after they received a letter from Hounslow council threatening to repossess their main home which was apparently left empty for seven months.
The MPs claimed £137,679 over four years for their second home, a Thameside flat in Waterloo, while their Brentford house was reported to have fallen into disrepair over the last year.
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