§ 38. Mr. Brookeasked the Minister of Health whether there are any arrangements under the Emergency Hospital Scheme whereby seriously injured persons, after leaving hospital, can obtain further specialist treatment or supervision which they require?
§ Mr. E. BrownApart from the general provision for enabling air-raid casualties and Civil Defence workers injured on duty to obtain all necessary further medical treatment either at an out-patients' department or from a general practitioner, special arrangements have recently been made for following up certain types of injury amongst these patients as well as ex-Service patients where the process of recovery is usually prolonged and needs to be supervised. I am advised that the cases where this procedure is particularly desirable are those treated in special centres which involve peripheral nerve injury, head injury or chest injury, as well as plastic and jaw cases and certain types of orthopaedic cases. The follow-up will be carried out by asking the patients to come up from time to time for re-examination, and, if necessary, further treatment, either at the original centre or at one more convenient for his place of residence, and by keeping careful records of his progress in a standard form as advised by the appropriate consultant adviser. I am issuing a circular to hospital authorities on this matter and will send my hon. Friend a copy. The special organisation already set up for dealing with fracture and orthopaedic cases was described in the reply which I gave to my hon. Friend the Member for Norwich (Mr. H. Strauss) on 8th January.