30. Mrs. Butlerasked the Minister of Health what arrangements he is making to increase provision of maternity beds in hospitals in the Greater London area.
§ Mr. BraineBesides 10 new contractual beds and 49 additional beds in existing hospital accommodation, new building will provide a further 50.
Mrs. ButlerCan the Minister say whether the number of beds which he has just mentioned and the nine which were provided in the last six months are part of the hundred which the Minister promised me last May would be provided in the Greater London area? If this is so, it is a pathetic number in view of the fact that a number of hospitals are being forced, or expect to be forced, to give up their existing beds because of lack of finance. When is the hon. Gentleman going to tackle this problem with the urgency that it deserves?
§ Mr. BraineThe hon. Lady is quite right. The numbers that I have mentioned are part of the 100 beds to which she refers. There has been a delay due to weather conditions in providing the 20 beds at Lewisham. I must add that although conditions in London are exceptional for a number of obvious reasons 80 to 85 per cent, of births take place in hospitals, and this is well above the percentage in the rest of the country.
§ Mr. K. RobinsonIs the Minister not aware that a miscalculation appears to have crept into the hospital plan about maternity beds in London because those in teaching hospitals are calculated to serve the London area, whereas, of 934 course, they serve a much wider area than that, and will this be put right in revised versions of the plan?
§ Mr. BraineI should like to have notice of that.