§ 17. Miss Herbisonasked the Secretary of State for Scotland when the rheumatology unit at Baird Street Hospital, Glasgow, will be ready to receive patients.
§ Mr. MaclayIt is impossible to be definite until the detailed planning has been done on the adaptations required, but the unit might be open by the end of 1961.
§ Miss HerbisonCan the right hon. Gentleman say whether alterations have begun? My information is that the stage at present reached is that negotiations are taking place between the Western Regional Hospital Board and the body which owns this clinic. Would it not have been far better for the Western 957 Regional Hospital Board to have used Belvedere Hospital? If that had been done, the patients would now have been receiving treatment. Instead, there has been this long delay, which means that we shall have had to wait from 1957 until perhaps 1961 before any accommodation is available for this very important purpose.
§ Mr. MaclayI think I am right in saying that it is still in the detailed planning stage. On the other point about Belvedere Hospital, I would hate to comment on that in reply to a supplementary question.