Mental Nurses (Report) (Hansard, 3 August 1944)

HC Deb 03 August 1944 vol 402 cc1581-3 1582

§ 19. Mr. Foster
asked the Minister of Health whether he is in a position to make any further statement about the Report of the Mental Nurses Sub-Committee appointed in association with the Nurses Salaries Committee and the action he proposes to take thereon.

§ Mr. Willink
Yes, Sir, but as the reply is rather long I will, with permission, circulate it in the OFFICIAL REPORT.

§ Mr. Foster
Can the right hon. Gentleman say when the report of this Sub-Committee, or the full Committee, will be available to hon. Members, as in reply to a Question last week the Minister said it would be available to-day? It is not in the Vote Office.

§ Mr. Willink
It will be available to-day in the Vote Office.

§ Following is the answer:

§ I have received frmo my noble Friend Lord Rushcliffe the Report of the Mental Nurses Sub-Committee, with an intimation that it has been endorsed by the main Nurses Salaries Committee. The Report deals with nurses in mental hospitals and mental deficiency institutions and nurses employed in wards for patients suffering from mental disorders or mental deficiency in general or other hospitals and public assistance institutions. The Report has been presented as a Command Paper and copies will be available today in the Vote Office. Hon. Members will see from the Report that the work has been detailed and that the Report covers the ground very fully.

§ I am to-day communicating with local authorities, the British Hospitals Association and the authorities of voluntary institutions concerned, commending to them the recommendations in the Report as to salaries, emoluments and conditions of service, and informing them of the terms of which Exchequer grant will be available to authorities which adopt the recommendations. Hon. Members will join with me in thanking the Committee, the Sub-Committee, and their noble Chairman, and in congratulating them on the successful conclusion of this part of their work. Lord Rushcliffe, who is Chairman of the Nurses' Salaries Committee, acted also as Chairman of the Mental Nurses Sub-Committee, and I am deeply indebted to him for what he has 1583 done over the past three years to promote the success of the Committee and its Sub-Committee.