§ 76. Mr. WRIGHTasked the Secretary to the Treasury what is the population of the county of Derbyshire; and what is the yearly number of deaths from consumption in that county?
§ The PRESIDENT of the LOCAL GOVERNMENT BOARD (Mr. Burns)My right hon. Friend has asked me to reply to this question. The population of the administrative county of Derbyshire at the recent Census was 560,013. According to the figures supplied to me from the office of the County Medical Officer of Health, for the last five years the average number of deaths from tuberculosis has been 665 a year.
§ 77. Mr. WRIGHTasked the Secretary to the Treasury whether, on the basis recommended by the Circular of the Local Government Board dated the 14th May, 1912, 228 beds in sanatoria and other institutions are required in Derbyshire, and not sixty-eight, and that the cost of such beds at 35s. per week per bed is £20,748, and not £6,188?
§ Mr. MASTERMANIf the hon. Member will refer to the answer which I gave on the 4th December he will see that the sum of £6,000 there mentioned relates to the cost of sanatorium and hospital treatment for insured persons only, whereas the Circular of the Local Government Board relates to schemes for the whole population.
§ Mr. WRIGHTIn reference to the whole of the population——
§ Mr. MASTERMANI believe the county is considering a scheme for dealing with the whole of the population.
§ 78. Mr. WRIGHTasked the Secretary to the Treasury what number of beds in sanatoria is provided for in the scheme of the Derbyshire County Committee; what would be their cost at 35s. per week per bed; whether that committee has recently decided not to proceed with that scheme; and, if so, what course was decided upon?
§ Mr. MASTERMANThe scheme proposed to provide 163 sanatorium beds and fifty hospital beds for the whole county at an annual cost of 28s. per week in the case of sanatorium beds, and 20s. per week in the case of hospital beds; it was proposed that three of the suggested sanatoria should serve also as sorting stations and dispensaries. The estimated total annual cost of these institutions is £12,189. Taking the insured population to be a little over one-third of the whole population the full proportion, or rather more than £4,000, might be derived according to this scheme from the Insurance Committee, and this would still leave rather more than £6,000, derived from the contributions of insured persons only, for other dispensaries and for dispensary and domiciliary treatment generally. The scheme proposed allowed only £800 for the services of general practitioners, and it will therefore require reconsideration in this respect.