§ MR. BLAKE (Longford, S.)I beg to ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland whether his atten- 761 tion has been directed to the papers and correspondence on the subject of the complaint of Jane M'Cormack, an inmate of the Longford Union Workhouse Infirmary; whether he will move the Local Government Board to comply with the request of the great majority of the elected guardians to hold an inquiry into the case; and will he kindly give the grounds of his decision?
§ THE CHIEF SECRETARY TO THE LORD LIEUTENANT OF IRELAND (Mr. GERALD BALFOUR,) Leeds, CentralThe reply to the first paragraph is in the affirmative. It is not the practice of the Board to order an inquiry on oath into any case the facts of which have been fully elicited, and the Local Government Board, having regard to the circumstances set forth in the guardians' minutes, and to the explanation received from the medical officer, considered that the latter acted within his discretion in discharging a patient whom he considered in a fit state to leave the hospital, and who refused to submit to the treatment prescribed for her by him. The Board are aware that in the case of a disease such as that from which Mrs. M'Cormack suffered, constant ablution, which was the treatment prescribed by the medical officer, is most essential, not only in the interests of the patient, but also of the health of other patients occupying the ward, and under such circumstances they saw no reason to order an inquiry to be held or to interfere with the decision of the responsible medical officer.