§ 39. Mr. Manuelasked the Secretary of State for Scotland what arrangements are being made by the various regional hospital boards to provide hospitalisation for old people, many of whom are at present urgently needing trained nursing care, and are being deprived of it through the lack of sufficient nursing staff and beds.
§ Miss HerbisonFurther expansion of facilities for this purpose will depend on the financial and other resources that can be made available to the hospital service. Arrangements are, however, in hand to make the best use of the existing facilities by adopting more intensive methods of treatment and to stimulate the fullest cooperation with the other residential and domiciliary services available to old people.
§ Mr. ManuelWill the Joint Under-Secretary ask her right hon. Friend to go into the question, above all, of the utilisation of the hospital space available? I believe this should be looked at with a view to caring for our own old people and getting them hospital treatment almost immediately when necessary.
§ Miss HerbisonI can assure my hon. Friend that much attention has been given by the Department and the Ministers concerned to this matter. In some instances we have been able to find more accommodation by switching over the use of a hospital such as an infectious diseases hospital.
§ Mr. Henry StraussWhat happens to a "hospitalised" man when he is cured? Is he "de-hospitalised" or "homeised?"