§ 18. Mr. Turtonasked the Secretary of State for Social Services whether he will make a statement on the future of the Adela Shaw Hospital, Kirkby-moorside.
§ Mr. CrossmanAfter the most careful considerations of all the representations made to me, I have decided to approve the Leeds Regional Hospital Board's proposals concerning this orthopaedic hospital, which recommend the cessation of in-patient services at a date after 31st December, 1969, when alternative acute orthopaedic accommodation in Scarborough is ready for occupation, and other satisfactory arrangements have been made for each of the long-stay children. Out-patient facilities are to be continued.
§ Mr. TurtonIs the Secretary of State aware that this decision to close the hospital completely will cause great concern to the 32,000 people who live in Ryedale, since it will mean that after the end of this year there will not be a single geriatric bed in the area?
§ Mr. CrossmanThe right hon. Gentleman knows that I have considered this case with considerable concern as a kind of test case of the proposal for the concentration of services in remote areas with thin populations. There were strictly no geriatric beds in the hospital at any time. It was an orthopaedic hospital where one or two old people had from time to time been put. We now take the view that in modern conditions we should provide the modern services for genuine geriatric patients, which can be done only in a modern hospital.