§ 16. Mr. K. Robinsonasked the Minister of Health if he is aware that the practice of relating the salaries of nursing and other staff in mental hospitals to the number of occupied beds may penalise those hospitals pursuing a progressive policy of rehabilitation and discharge of patients; and if he will initiate steps to remove this anomaly.
§ Mr. Walker-SmithArrangements agreed by the Whitley Councils concerned provide some protection for existing staff whose salaries would otherwise be affected when there is a permanent reduction in the number of beds. While some anomalies may remain, it is difficult to find alternative arrangements which do not create further anomalies.
§ Mr. RobinsonWould not the right hon. and learned Gentleman agree that one ought to try to encourage rather than to discourage mental hospitals to discharge patients? To what extent is there protection for the existing staff, and why cannot that protection be made permanent and complete?
§ Mr. Walker-SmithI agree with the hon. Gentleman that it is good that patients should be discharged, subject always, of course, to the clinical facts of the case in question. In regard to safeguards, these are applied to safeguard the position of people already in the hospital employment in these circumstances, but, of course, in future appointments regard must be had to the new salary scales appropriate to the diminished responsibility which they carry.
§ Dr. SummerskillWould not the right hon. and learned Gentleman agree that, in the light of the new approach to mental disease, this method of remuneration surely places a premium on lack of initiative?
§ Mr. Walker-SmithNo, I do not think so. It is necessary to have some sort of index by which salary scales can be adjusted, and it is true in regard to future appointments that, if we happily have a smaller number of patients to take care of and fewer beds in hospitals, the task is likely to be less onerous to that extent.