§ 68. Mr. T. GRIFFITHSasked the Minister of Health if he will furnish a Return of the numbers and beds, comparable with that given in the House of Commons on 1st March, 1926, for hospitals provided by local authorities, voluntary hospitals aided by local authorities, institutions provided by Poor Law authorities, and giving, for the latest possible year, the expenditure in each of the three classes?
§ Mr. GREENWOODI will circulate in, the OFFICIAL REPORT such information as is available on these points.
§ Following is the information:
§ So far as general hospitals are concerned, the information in my Department indicates that one large general hospital, with 875 beds, and three relatively small accident hospitals, have been provided by local authorities, but the total number of beds is not known. Local authorities are empowered by Section 64 of the Public Health Act, 1925, to make reasonable subscriptions or donations to voluntary hospitals to the extent of the produce of a penny rate. The amount subscribed by local authorities under that section in 1927–28 was £25,000. Under Section 38 of the Poor Law Act, 1927, boards of guardians may, with my consent, make contributions to public hospitals. In 1927–28 the amount contributed under this Section was £44,000.
§ The information with regard to hospitals of the other classes referred to in the question is as follows:
655| A.—Hospitals provided by Local Authorities. | |||
| — | Number. | Beds. | Expenditure of Local Authorities in 1927–28. |
| £ | |||
| 1. For tuberculosis | 166 | 12,787 | 1,802,000* |
| 2. For acute infectious diseases | 987† | 36,833† | 3,490,000† |
| 3. Maternity hospitals (not including maternity wards in general hospitals or Poor Law Institutions). | 79 | 1,034 | 201,447 |
| 4. Babies' hospitals | 11 | 253 | |
| * Including the expenditure in connection with beds for tuberculosis mentioned in the following note. | |||
| † At 44 of these hospitals there are 2,205 beds for the treatment of tuberculosis. The expenditure on these beds is excluded from item (2). |
| B.—Voluntary Hospitals aided by Local Authorities. | |||
| — | Number. | Beds. | Expenditure of Local Authorities in 1927–28. |
| £ | |||
| 1. Tuberculosis hospitals | 138 | 9,202 | 825,000† |
| 2. General hospitals— | |||
| (a) Used in connection with tuberculosis schemes. | 164 | * | |
| (b) Used in connection with venereal diseases schemes. | 130 | * | Not available. |
| (c) Maternity sections used in connection with maternity and child welfare schemes. | 22 | 267 | 78,000 |
| 3. Maternity hospitals (not including maternity sections in general hospitals). | 65 | 1,323 | |
| 4. Babies' hospitals | 12 | 347 | |
| * Available beds used as and when required. | |||
| † Including expenditure of the Welsh National Memorial Association on sanitoria and hospitals. | |||
| The figures under the above headings are exclusive of accommodation in homes for unmarried mothers and their babies, observation wards in connection with maternity and child welfare centres, and convalescent homes. Those under B (2) (c) are exclusive of accommodation used by local Authorities in general hospitals for special or complicated maternity cases, as regards which figures are not available. |
| C.—Institutions provided by Poor Law Authorities. | |||
| — | Number. | Beds. | Expenditure of Local Authorities in 1927–28. |
| £ | |||
| 1. Institutions wholly for the sick, exclusive of institutions for mental cases | 73 | 40,000 | 4,119,000 |
| 2. General institutions (with a total accommodation of some 188,000). | 652 | 83,000* | 8,625,000† |
| * Beds in infirm and sick wards. | |||
| † Total expenditure on general institutions. |