§ Amendments made: In page 11, line 7, leave out "in respect of a private hospital".
§ In page 11, line 13, leave out "and".—[Mr. Galbraith.]
§ Mr. GalbraithI beg to move in page 11, line 15 at the end to insert:
and(d) that the medical and nursing staff proposed is adequate for the hospital and is suitably trained and qualified.The effect of the Amendment is to require that my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State should satisfy himself before registering a private hospital that there will be adequate and suitably trained and qualified medical and nursing staff. The Amendment meets an undertaking given in Committee in respect of a point raised by the Opposition.
§ Miss HerbisonThis is an important Amendment. We are dealing here with private hospitals. Since we have regional hospital boards and other public bodies to safeguard these matters in the hospitals under our National Health Service, it seemed to us that the most stringent conditions should be placed upon private hospitals. We are glad that the Secretary of State will ensure that not only will there be an adequate number of medical staff but that they will be suitably qualified. I hope that means that they will be fully qualified—in other words, that they will have the qualifications that one would expect to find in a National Health Service hospital.
§ Amendment agreed to.