§ 39. Brigadier Raynerasked the Minister of Health if he is aware that under his regulations the future weekly charge for private rooms at Moretonhampstead Cottage Hospital will be, without medical attendance, 17 guineas, and with such attendance £26 8s., and at Bovey Tracey Cottage Hospital, without medical attendance, 15 guineas and with such attendance, £19 12s.; and whether he will authorise a reduction in these charges.
§ The Minister of Health (Mr. Aneurin Bevan)These charges have been calculated in accordance with the requirements of the National Health Service Act, to cover the whole cost of the accommodation and services provided, and I have no power to reduce them.
§ Brigadier RaynerWill the right hon. Gentleman do something about it? Does he realise that in many of these small cottage hospitals, offering very few amenities, they have to charge more than the London Clinic; that a great many old people want to have extra privacy and are quite able to pay reasonably for it, but cannot afford these fantastic prices: and does he know that doctors, nurses and patients are absolutely fed up with the whole business as regards private rooms?
§ Mr. BevanThe hon. and gallant Member has entirely exaggerated the situation. The fact is that so long as there is need for hospital accommodation it is not desirable to relax the situation so that people can buy their way into hospitals before those who need them more.
§ Brigadier RaynerIn view of the bankrupt nature of the Hospital Service, can the right hon. Gentleman afford to lose the revenue from these private rooms?
Mr. Wilson HarrisDoes not the Act already provide that any patient needing a private room for medical reasons will get it over the head of anybody else, and is it not a rather unfortunate position as a result of this Act that these very high prices should be charged?
§ Mr. BevanThe hon. Member confuses the situation. There are two types of accommodation in hospitals for which a charge is made. There is the amenity bed for which one only has to pay for the privacy, and there is the other where one has to pay for the surgeon and the medical service if one insists upon having surgeons of a particular kind. In most hospitals it is now possible to have both. In this hospital to which reference is made, if the beds are empty, they are made available to persons who need them urgently.
§ Brigadier RaynerWho is going to buy them at 19 guineas a time in a small cottage hospital?
§ Mr. BevanThe answer is that if they cannot buy them at that price, they can have them free if they need them urgently.