§ 8. Mr. Raphael Tuckasked the Secretary of State for Social Services whether as a result of his consideration of the case of the death of Mrs. Green in Napsbury Mental Hospital, he has now decided to hold a full-scale inquiry into conditions there.
§ Sir K. JosephAs the hon. Member knows from my recent letter, I have decided, after consultation with the North-West Metropolitan Regional Hospital Board, to arrange for an independent professional investigation into medical and nursing practices on certain wards at Napsbury Hospital.
§ Mr. Raphael TuckI have not yet received the right hon. Gentleman's letter. What is against his having a full-scale inquiry on the lines of the Whittingham Hospital inquiry? It can only be beneficial. If the nurses have been using only reasonable force to restrain violent patients, they should be cleared. If, on the other hand, they have been getting annoyed and cuffing patients indiscriminately, something should be done about it. In either 1469 case, it will be beneficial to have a full-scale inquiry.
§ Sir K. JosephThe fact is that the rather serious number of complaints concerning Napsbury Hospital over recent times have been almost entirely connected with a small number of wards. That is why, rather than distract and divert the work of the whole hospital, about the vast majority of which there have been no complaints, I have decided to have an investigation made into the wards concerned.
§ Dr. StuttafordDoes my right hon. Friend understand that everybody concerned with medicine in this country is grateful for the acknowledgement which he shows that conditions in mental hospitals are rather less than satisfactory? Does he realise that this situation will not be improved until we have adequate nursing staff, adequately paid, in adequate buildings?
§ Sir K. JosephYes. I should like to take this opportunity, in replying to my hon. Friend, to pay tribute to the devotion and zeal, in the interests of the patients, of the overwhelming majority of doctors and nurses involved.