§ 20. Mr. Goodhartasked the Minister of Health how many beds in mental deficiency units are out of commission in the South-East Metropolitan Regional Hospital Board Area because of shortage of nursing staff.
§ Mr. Walker-SmithTwo hundred and thirty.
§ Mr. GoodhartIs my right hon. and learned Friend aware that the number of beds standing empty because of shortage of staff is nearly equal to the number of mental patients awaiting entrance to these units in this area?
§ Mr. BlenkinsopCan the Minister assure the House that those beds are not empty through lack of finance but because of the shortage of nurses?
§ Mr. Walker-SmithYes, that is so. It is not due to lack of finance but to recruitment difficulties. There have been increases in the number of staff over the last three years which should meet the point raised by my hon. Friend the Member for Beckenham (Mr. Goodhart).
§ Dr. SummerskillCould the Minister tell the House bow he can reconcile that 803 position with the fact that there are waiting lists of potential nurses for London hospitals?
§ Mr. Walker-SmithThat raises a question of distribution, on which I have answered several Parliamentary Questions recently, and which, as the right hon. Lady may recollect, is being studied by a special sub-committee of the National Committee on Recruitment.
§ 21. Mr. Goodhartasked the Minister of Health what action he is taking to stimulate the recruiting of nursing staff for mental deficiency units in the South-East Metropolitan Regional Hospital Board Area.
§ Mr. Walker-SmithThe Regional Hospital Board has appointed a deputy nursing officer with special responsibility for recruitment, is encouraging the holding of open days at the mental deficiency hospitals, is devoting special attention to the improvement of nurses' living accommodation in these hospitals, and intends to hold a mental health exhibition in the area shortly. As regards the action taken to stimulate nurse recruitment generally, I would refer my hon. Friend to the Answer given to a Question by the hon. Member for Normanton (Mr. A. Roberts) on 16th December last.
§ Mr. GoodhartWhile thanking my right hon. and learned Friend for that reply, may I ask whether he can tell me how the shortage of staff in this area compares, proportionately, with the shortage of staff in other areas?
§ Mr. Walker-SmithI should not like to give an exact ratio, but I think there is nothing exceptional in the position in this region, which shares with the rest of the country the improving trend in staff to which I referred in answer to my hon. Friend on an earlier question.