§ 16. Mr. KINGasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will state the present number of beds in institutions under the Lunacy Commissioners which have been placed at the disposal of the War Office for wounded soldiers; whether this number has been recently, or is shortly, to be, increased; and whether he will state what provisions have been, or will be, made for the civilian population displaced.
§ The UNDER-SECRETARY of STATE for the HOME DEPARTMENT (Mr. Brace)Ten asylums in England and Wales and isolated parts of two others have been placed at the disposal of the War Office for use as hospitals, and accommodation has thereby been provided for over 14,000 sick and wounded soldiers. Arrangements are in contemplation for converting into hospitals two more asylums. In addition, an asylum which at the outbreak of war was nearly completed but not yet occupied was taken over by the War Office, and a similar course is to be adopted with another new asylum now approaching completion. Nearly all the civilian patients displaced by these arrangements have been distributed over the remaining asylums, with the result that most of these asylums have at present more inmates than would be considered advisable by the Board of Control in normal times. As stated, in reply to a question on 23rd September last, every effort is being made to minimise the inconveniences of the arrangement, which is only justified by the exceptional circumstances of the present time.