§ MR. JOHN ELLIS (Nottingham, Rushcliffe)I beg to ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, (1) whether his attention has been called to the Report of the Commissioner appointed by his predecessor to inquire into the circumstances of the death of Thomas Weir, a patient at the Holloway Sanatorium, whilst confined in a "dry pack," and to the opinions there in expressed and recommendations made as to certain features in the management of that institution, also to certain charges and allegations of other serious occurrences since at the same institution, and to the Report of Messrs. Bagot and Needham to their fellow Lunacy Commissioners in respect of their investigation into these occurrences; whether those making the charges and allegations had any notice of this inquiry, or were afforded by Messrs. Bagot and Needham any opportunity of in any way sustaining their statements; (2) whether the Lunacy Commission has come to any conclusion or taken any action on the report of their colleagues; and (3) whether, having regard to the state of things disclosed by the Report of the Commission of 20th April, 1895, and that of Messrs. Bagot and 775 Needham of the 30th October, 1895, he proposes to take any steps with respect to the management of the Holloway Sanatorium?
§ SIR MATTHEW WHITE RIDLEYThe answer to the first paragraph of the question is in the affirmative. The answer to the second is that the friends of the patients whose cases were inquired into by Messrs. Bagot and Needham received notice of the inquiry, and had the opportunity of attending either in person or by their legal representative. The report of Messrs. Needham and Bagot was adopted by the Lunacy Commissioners, and in the recent revision of the regulations of the Sanatorium they insisted on the insertion of a stricter definition of the duties of the medical staff, and of provisions to insure more careful personal supervision by the superintendent of the patients individually, and of their medical and other treatment. I believe that the recent investigations, and the steps which have been taken in consequence of them, will put the management of the Sanatorium on a more satisfactory footing.