§ 48. Mr. Edelmanasked the Minister of Health what arrangements exist at Roehampton Hospital for the differentiation in messing, travel and social arrangements as between ex-officers and other ranks.
§ Mr. Walker-SmithEx-officer patients at Queen Mary's Hospital, Roehampton, have certain traditional privileges, including their own dining room and billiard room, but there is no differentiation in food or service or in the general social activities of the hospital. When ex-officers have leave of absence from the hospital or return home on discharge they receive first-class warrants under the arrangements made by my right hon. Friend the Minister of Pensions and National Insurance.
§ Mr. EdelmanIs it not undesirable that thirteen years after the end of the war there should be social distinctions between men who have made equal sacrifices? Has the right hon. and learned Gentleman's attention been drawn to the case of a constituent of mine who, having lost an arm, was obliged to travel in conditions of great discomfort, which differed from the conditions in which an officer would have travelled?
§ Mr. Walker-SmithI am sorry if the hon. Gentleman's constituent suffered any discomfort in his travelling arrangements, but, as I have said, that is not a matter for me. The hospital simply 882 issues the warrants on behalf of my right hon. Friend, and I think that my hon. Friend the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Pensions and National Insurance has written fully to the hon. Member about it. With regard to the point about differentiation in hospitals, it is only in these certain particulars that there is any differentiation. There is no differentiation in medical treatment. As the hon. Gentleman is aware, certain undertakings were given in 1953 at the time of the transfer of war pensioner hospitals.