§ 13. Mr. Swinglerasked the Minister of Pensions and National Insurance to what extent doctors who serve on pneumoconiosis panels also serve on medical appeal tribunals; and what steps he takes to ensure that they do not sit in judgment on appeal cases on which they have originally given a decision.
§ Lieut.- Commander MaydonNo doctor on the pneumoconiosis medical panels is serving as a member of a medical appeal tribunal, and under the regulations no doctor who has taken part in a case as a member of a medical board can sit on the appeal tribunal.
§ Mr. SwinglerWill the Joint Parliamentary Secretary take steps to check that, because I sent details of a case of this kind to the Minister last week which appeared to show that the same doctor appeared on a panel and on a medical appeal tribunal in the same case? Would the hon. and gallant Gentleman make a comprehensive inquiry in his Department to ensure that the Answer he has given today is strictly accurate and is strictly observed?
§ Lieut.-Commander MaydonI am aware of the case to which the hon. Gentleman refers. I am having full inquiries made into it, and I will be writing fully to the hon. Gentleman later. I understand that the complaint is that the medical member has been a member of a tribunal deciding another appeal from the same man, not the same appeal.
§ Mr. SnowIs the hon. and gallant Gentleman aware that the case to which my hon. Friend the Member for Newcastle-under-Lyme (Mr. Swingler) refers is not by any means the only case? I have referred to the hon. and gallant Gentleman a case in which the same doctor has appeared on the tribunal, and the excuse appears to have been given that the appellant did not recognise the doctor. This is no reason at all, though there may be a gap in time. Incidentally, I was a long time waiting for the reply from the hon. and gallant Gentleman's Department.
§ Lieut.-Commander MaydonI apologise for the length of time the hon. Gentleman has been kept waiting, but I can assure him that it is only to check that the regulations are being properly followed.
§ Mr. SwinglerIn view of what has been said, does not the same principle apply? Will he take steps to ensure that the same doctor does not appear more than once? If a man is appealing for the second time to a tribunal, can steps be taken to ensure that the man appeals to a different panel of doctors from those to whom the original appeal went?
§ Lieut.-Commander MaydonA member of one of these tribunals, because he has dealt with a previous application by the same claimant, is not debarred from sitting again. This matter was referred to a tribunal of Commissioners, and they came to the view that there was no real risk of bias in these circumstances.
§ Mr. MitchisonOught not this decision to be reconsidered? It is hair-splitting to have a man adjudicated on for one complaint and then let a doctor sit on an appeal about the same man. It is what, you call hair-splitting, or man-splitting.
§ Lieut.-Commander MaydonI cannot see that it is contrary to the interests of the man in question if the doctor sits subsequently on an appeal concerning a completely different matter.
§ Mr. SwinglerIn view of the unsatisfactory reply, I beg to give notice that I will raise this matter on the Adjournment.
§ 15. Mr. Wainwrightasked the Minister of Pensions and National Insurance if he will give the number of persons certified as suffering from pneumoconiosis at the rate of 90 per cent. for the years 1959, 1960, 1961, and 1962, respectively.
§ Lieut.-Commander MaydonAt 31st October in 1959, 1960, 1961 and 1962, the estimated numbers of industrial disablement pensions in payment for pneumoconiosis assessed at 90 per cent. were 50, 65, 75 and 75, respectively.
§ Mr. WainwrightDoes the hon. and gallant Gentleman not agree that it would not cost much to pay constant 826 attendance allowance to these people who are suffering from 90 per cent. or more disability and need the allowance to keep them? Does he not appreciate that their wives usually act as nurses throughout the 24 hours of the day? Has he no compassion whatsoever and a desire to help these people in the needy time which they go through in the last days, months or perhaps years of their lives?
§ Lieut.-Commander MaydonI can assure the hon. Member that the measures which have already been taken to help these severely disabled men show that compassion is felt for them.
17. Mr. B. Taylorasked the Minister of Pensions and National Insurance if he will state the number of persons certified as suffering from pneumoconiosis for the year 1963; and, of the total, what was the number in the East Midlands division of the National Coal Board.
§ Lieut.-Commander MaydonIn the year to 30th September, 1963—the latest for which figures are available—2,773 persons were first diagnosed as suffering from pneumoconiosis. Of these, 2,347 were in the coalmining industry, including 299 in the East Midlands Division of the National Coal Board.
§ 35. Mr. Swinglerasked the Minister of Pensions and National Insurance what further consideration in his Department has been given to recognising chronic bronchitis and emphysema, when associated with pneumoconiosis, as occupational diseases of the mining industry.
§ Lieut.-Commander MaydonAll such questions are kept under constant review in the light of current medical findings.
§ Mr. SwinglerHow long has this review been going on and when will the results be apparent? In the course of the review, has the Minister consulted informed medical opinion in the mining areas? Since mine workers now are not receiving disablement compensation for the associated conditions of bronchitis and emphysema when pneumoconiosis is recognised, will the Minister now consult informed medical opinion in the mining areas and let the House know the result?
§ Lieut.-Commander MaydonAs I said in answer to an earlier question, informed medical opinion is consulted on these matters.
§ Mr. SwinglerIn the mining areas?
§ Lieut.-Commander MaydonI should, perhaps, remind the hon. Gentleman of what has already been done. Certain kinds of emphysema are accepted as part of the pneumoconiosis disease process and thus taken fully into account in assessing disablement. Where a person found to have pneumoconiosis is also found to have some other respiratory disease, such as bronchitis or generalised emphysema, the normal rules provide for the assessment of his disablement to be increased by the extent to which the effects of the pneumoconiosis are made worse by the other diseases.
§ Mr. MendelsonDoes not the hon. and gallant Gentleman recall that in two debates in recent years he promised the House completion of an inquiry into this matter? Further, is not he aware that the incidence of chronic bronchitis is rising in the mining areas today? Is not the time overdue when the inquiry ought to be completed and a full report brought to the House?
§ Lieut.-Commander MaydonIf the hon. Gentleman will look at the undertakings I have given in the past, he will find that I have said that this matter is under constant review.
Mrs. SlaterDoes not the hon. and gallant Gentleman see the difference between what he calls "informed medical opinion" and experienced medical opinion? My hon. Friend the Member for Stoke-on-Trent, Central (Sir B. Stross) has considerable experience in this matter. Is it not time that a complete review was made and that there was a complete change in the Ministry's attitude to the whole problem?
§ Lieut.-Commander MaydonI have always recognised that experience leads to information.
§ Mr. FinchIs the hon. and gallant Gentleman aware that there are numbers of men in the mining industry who are suffering from emphysema, bronchitis and pneumoconiosis and that the medical men and those who examine men for pneumoconiosis admit that it is 828 impossible to apportion the degree of disability caused by these diseases and that there is a great deal of guesswork attached to this problem? Will he not follow the practice in South Africa and other countries and allow benefit to be paid for pneumoconiosis in view of the serious doubt which exists in these cases?
§ Lieut.-Commander MaydonI do not think the hon. Member can have heard what I said to the hon. Member for Newcastle-under-Lyme (Mr. Swingler), namely, that in cases of this nature the assessment of the disability can be increased by the extent to which the effects of pneumoconiosis are made worse by the other diseases.