§ 12. Sir W. Smithersasked the Minister of Health what alteration there has been in the system of reckoning the number of journeys and patients carried by the 1515 ambulance service since 1950; what were the dates; and if he will give details of the alterations.
§ Miss Hornsby-SmithIn 1950 there was no uniformity of reckoning; since then an increasing number of authorities have adopted the system advocated by the Ministry. It is impossible to give any single date. The process is not yet complete.
§ Sir W. SmithersIs there any truth in the suggestion that this scheme was introduced to show that the Health Service has been more active and conveyed more patients when, in fact, more patients have not been conveyed by the ambulances?
§ Miss Hornsby-SmithI do not think that the introduction of the new method was with that purpose, although, quite obviously, the result would be to make the figures look larger than they had hitherto been. I think it is accepted that the only fair basis of comparison between one authority and another is as a single unit and a single journey and I hope that that shortly will be carried on throughout the Service.
§ Sir W. SmithersIs not this scheme, therefore, dishonest?