§ 9. Mr. Liptonasked the Minister of Health what action he is taking to arrange for the separation of smoking and non-smoking patients in hospital wards.
§ Miss PittI would refer the hon. Member to my right hon. Friend's reply to the hon. Member for Eton and Slough (Mr. Brockway) on 5th December.
§ Mr. LiptonDoes the hon. Lady realise how unpleasant it is for a patient recovering from an operation, or a bronchial case, to be surrounded in the ward by patients who are smoking? Is she also aware that the King Edward's Hospital Fund for London, the committee of which contains a high percentage of smokers, has refused even to investigate this problem during 1961?
§ Miss PittModern ideas in hospitals, with smaller wards, make segregation possible. This is, of course, a matter for individual hospital authorities. I am sure that they do their best to provide both for the smokers and the nonsmokers.