§ 13. Sir Wavell Wakefieldasked the Minister of Health if in view of his refusal to permit private patients to obtain pharmaceutical services free of charge he will withdraw the pamphlet, "The New National Health Service," in which it is stated that any person can use the whole or any part of the service; and, in view of this misleading statement, if he will issue a new pamphlet giving a factual statement of what people are entitled to receive.
§ Mr. BevanNo, Sir. People are perfectly free to use any part of the service; but there must be a limit to the extent to which parts can be subdivided. I should not feel justified in supplying medicines or appliances ordered by doctors who were not taking part in the service, and are under no obligation to observe its rules.
§ Sir W. WakefieldIs the Minister aware that many people feel that they have been grossly misled by this circular; and is he further aware that people feel that, having paid for this service, either directly or indirectly by taxation, they are entitled to receive a part of the service, as stated in the circular, free of charge at the time?
§ Mr. BevanI am under an obligatio—and I should have thought that I should have been supported in this by all parts of the House—to defend expenditure. It ought not to be possible for a doctor who is not in the service, and, therefore, not subject to the discipline of the service, to prescribe for his private patients.
§ Sir W. WakefieldIs the Minister aware that it is not the doctors, but the patients about whom we are concerned?