§ 19. Mrs. Mannasked the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will state the annual cost to the National Health Service of the treatment of accidents in the home.
§ Mr. J. StuartI regret that this information is not available.
§ Mrs. MannIs it not rather a dreadful reply, as accidents in the home are the greatest factor in our hospital service, that the figure is never available? When are we to get these accidents made notifiable?
§ Mr. StuartThe fact is that a person injured at home may be treated by his 176 family doctor or as an out-patient or an in-patient in a hospital, and it would be very difficult to separate these from all the other cases.
§ Mrs. MannIs the right hon. Gentleman aware that this is exactly the same reply that was given before road accidents were made notifiable?
§ Mr. StuartNo, the number of accidents is, I think, known. I thought that the hon. Lady was asking about the cost to the National Health Service.
§ 20. Mrs. Mannasked the Secretary of State for Scotland the number of deaths from accidents in the home in the four cities of Scotland and recent available annual figures.
§ Mr. J. StuartThe most recent available information relates to 1955. I am circulating in the OFFICIAL REPORT figures for the four cities for that year and for each of the two preceding years.
§ Captain DuncanCan my right hon. Friend say how he gets these figures? Are they collected by the Inter-Departmental Committee which has been sitting for a long time, because these accidents are not notifiable?
§ Mr. StuartI believe that they come from the local authorities or the hospitals, but I do not know. I will find out.
§ Following are the figures:
| NUMBER OF DEATHS FROM ACCIDENTS IN THE HOME | |||||
| — | Glasgow | Edinburgh | Dundee | Aberdeen | |
| 1955 | … | 239 | 127 | 67 | 39 |
| 1954 | … | 246 | 109 | 64 | 38 |
| 1953 | … | 232 | 124 | 65 | 45 |