§ 25. Dr. Summerskillasked the Minister of Health what steps he is taking to increase facilities for the domiciliary care of geriatric patients.
§ Mr. SnowLocal authorities plan substantial development of their domiciliary health and welfare services for the elderly and others and the powers envisaged in Clause 45 of the Health Services and Public Health Bill should assist this. The increasing association of local authority nurses and health visitors with family doctors should improve the domiciliary services available to all, including the elderly. Day hospital and outpatient geriatric provision is also being expanded.
Dr. SunmerskillWould not my hon. Friend agree that, as his general policy is to decrease the number of old people's beds in hospitals and not to increase them, a great burden will rest on general practitioners and local authority services?
§ Mr. SnowYes, Sir. While this is so, it is not necessarily undesirable. The intentions behind Clause 45, to which I have referred this afternoon, include using facilities outside hospitals which may in many cases be more desirable and satisfactory to the people concerned. This is a more flexible attitude which my right hon. Friend has adopted and which we think will serve the public well.
§ Dr. WinstanleyWould the hon. Gentleman consider the suggestion, put to him several times, of the appointment of a new officer to local health authorities —an old person's officer—to be responsible for the integration of all these services which are coming from so many different sources?