§ 50. Lieut.-Colonel Liptonasked the Minister of Health why national registration numbers are still required for the purpose of obtaining treatment under the National Health Service Acts.
§ Mr. Iain MacleodI would refer the hon. Member to the reply given by my predecessor on 21st February to the hon. Members for Doncaster (Mr. Barber) and Solihull (Mr. M. Lindsay).
§ Lieut.-Colonel LiptonIs it not clear that most people have thrown away their identity cards and their national registration numbers as well, and that a growing number of people are not going to continue the national registration service on a voluntary basis for the sake of the Minister of Health and that the administration of the National Health Service is being thrown into utter confusion by the attempt to preserve something which the Government have pretended to discard?
§ Mr. MacleodThe last part of the hon. and gallant Gentleman's question is very much exaggerated, as I suspect he knows. Of course, it is true, and it was always recognised as such, that the abolition of the identity card would bring considerable difficulty to the National Health Service. I prefer those administrative difficulties to having identity cards.
§ Mr. Langford-HoltWhat is the position of those who have come within the National Health Service scheme since the abolition of identity cards? Presumably they will have no number at all.
§ Mr. MacleodI should like to have notice of that question.
§ Mr. MulleyIs this not another instance of the Government rushing into action to appease their back bench members without considering the implications'?
§ Mr. SpeakerThat is a matter of opinion.
§ Lieut.-Colonel LiptonIs the right hon. Gentleman aware that many patients are required to pay for treatment because they cannot produce their national registration number and are, therefore, being penalised without reason? Is that not one of the reasons for the present state of affairs?
§ Mr. MacleodI should be very glad to look into any case of that kind.
§ Sir H. WilliamsIs it not a fact that before the war we ran a national health insurance system without any numbers?
§ Mr. E. FletcherAre not people entitled to treatment under the National Health Service whether they know their national registration numbers or not?
§ Mr. J. GriffithsWhat steps is the right hon. Gentleman taking to remove the ignorance among his own hon. Friends about the new National Health Service?