HC Deb 13 May 1965 vol 712 cc684-6
18. Mr. David Price

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science when he will authorise the establishment of a medical school in Southampton for the Wessex region.

19. Sir J. Fletcher-Cooke

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science whether he is aware of the need for a medical school in Southampton; what action he is proposing to take; and whether he will make a statement.

29. Mr. van Straubenzee

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science whether he will now announce his plans for the establishment of further medical schools to meet the national need for doctors.

36. Dr. Bennett

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science what steps he proposes to take to establish a medical school in the Southampton area.

Mr. Crosland

I cannot add anything to the Answer I gave on 6th May to my hon. Friend the Member for Halifax (Dr. Summerskill) and the hon. Member for Worcester (Mr. Peter Walker). The claims of all possible sites for new medical schools will be considered at the appropriate time.

Mr. Price

Will the Minister say when the "appropriate time" is going to be? During his period of intellectual gestation on this matter, will he bear in mind that the Wessex region is the only one in the country which does not have a teaching hospital within its own boundaries, and, secondly, that a new teaching hospital could be established in Southampton more quickly and more cheaply than anywhere else in the country, because all the necessary academic facilities exist in the Southampton area?

Mr. Crosland

I am well aware of the strong claims of Southampton in this matter, but a number of other places have very strong claims which are constantly pressed on me. When the time comes to take a decision, I shall take the advice of the University Grants Committee on the most appropriate sites for any new medical schools which it may be possible to establish.

Sir J. Fletcher-Cooke

When the time comes will the Minister also bear in mind the possibility of associating Netley Hospital with this project of a medical school, if the decision goes, as I hope it will, in favour of Southampton?

Mr. Crosland

At the appropriate time I shall bear every appropriate consideration in mind.

Mr. van Straubenzee

In reaching his decision on the appropriate time, I hope that the Minister will be urged and spurred on by the serious gaps which are revealed by recent reports in training the required number of doctors. Is not there a strong case to be made for the establish- ment of a school at a place where it can be done really quickly?

Mr. Crosland

I think that there is a strong case for assuming that we need a grater expansion in the number of medical students than the one to which we are committed now. The precise degree of expansion which is needed is at present under study by the various Departments concerned. Whether this expansion can best be made by establishing new schools or building on existing ones is a separate question which will also be considered.

Mr. James Johnson

Would not my hon. Friend agree that all the arguments which have so far been adduced for Southampton and Wessex apply equally, if not more so, to Humberside and Hull?

Mr. Crosland

That is one of my troubles.