§ 15. Mr. Howieasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what steps he is taking to increase facilities for the domiciliary care of geriatric patients.
§ Mr. SnowDomiciliary care for elderly people is the responsibility of local health and welfare authorities, who are aware of the needs. All the relevant services have expanded substantially in recent years.
§ Mr. HowieSince my right hon. Friend a moment ago said that he was anxious to get people out of hospitals rather than into them, would it not be better if the Government were to apply their energies towards that end more vigorously than seems apparent from that reply?
§ Mr. SnowWe have by no means reached perfection in the matter. But in home nursing, home help, health visiting, meals, chiropody and the provision of certain nursing equipment, there have been substantial improvements in recent years.
§ Mr. FortescueCan the hon. Gentleman tell us what progress has been made with schemes for building flats for old people in the grounds of former cottage hospitals now falling into disuse, so that domiciliary care can be combined with the medical and nursing care available at those hospitals?
§ Mr. SnowThis has received the attention of an advisory committee established by my right hon. Friend. We are urgently examining standards, and the financial provision which those standards might imply.
§ Mr. Maurice MacmillanCan the hon. Gentleman give the House any information about the extent to which the new powers in the Health Services and Public Health Act are being used by local authorities, particularly with regard to the provision of laundry facilities for people living at home?
§ Mr. SnowNo date of operation of the Act has been decided so far as those provisions are concerned.
§ 28. Mr. Moonmanasked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will make a statement on his plans to improve the geriatric services.
§ Mr. CrossmanThe plans of hospital authorities envisage an increase of bed numbers in areas of local shortage and to meet the needs of an expanding population. Primary objectives are more efficient assessment, greater emphasis on rehabilitation and on out-patient and day patient treatment, and improved conditions for those who must remain in hospital as long-stay patients.
§ Mr. MoonmanNow that the stigma of mental health treatment has been largely removed, would not my right hon. Friend agree that the extreme ends of the service, such as the adolescents, to whom he referred a short while ago, and, indeed, the geriatric service, are perhaps the most vulnerable? Will he, therefore, ensure that his resources are directed to these two vulnerable sectors?
§ Mr. CrossmanI would add that the aim once again must be to see the fewest number of people in hospital, and for only a short time rather than long stay, and then to go for out-patient services and day hospitals for what is, I think, the greatest way of raising the self-esteem and the morale of these people.
§ Mr. Maurice MacmillanCan the right hon. Gentleman say to what extent his reconsideration of the rôle of the small hospitals is valid in this context?
§ Mr. CrossmanI have now received a most interesting report on the future of the district hospital and the relation between the big hospital and the small hospital, and I hope in due course to be able to make a statement to the House on it. It is a complicated question. Certainly, the arguments are not all on the side of the big hospital.
§ Mr. Gwilym RobertsIs my right hon. Friend aware that there is a new geriatric unit at Luton and Dunstable Hospital with 80 beds which has been awaiting opening for some weeks because of a shortage of cleaners? Will he consider what advice can be given at ministerial level on this serious matter?
§ Mr. CrossmanI would advise my hon. Friend to put down a separate Question.