§ 12. Mr. Maddenasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what advice has been offered by circular by his Department to area health authorities, teaching hospitals and retained boards of governors about the employment of public relations consultants.
§ Mr. EnnalsAdvice on public relations services in the reorganised National Health Service was given to health authorities and hoards of governors in May 1974 in Health Service Circular HSC(IS)35. My hon. Friend has written to my hon. Friend following his earlier Questions on this subject and enclosing a copy of this circular.
§ Mr. MaddenDoes the Secretary of State agree that, at a time when there is great pressure on public expenditure in the Health Service, it is unacceptable for regional health authorities, such as the South-West Thames authority, to employ the part-time services of a public relations consultant at £6,000 a year plus expenses? Will he reconsider the advice given about public relations and prohibit the employment of part-time consultants by organisations within the Health Service?
§ Mr. EnnalsI do not think that I shall actually prohibit it. Very few health authorities make use of outside consultants. The majority use their own staff. I shall look at the question again, but the health authorities know that I expect them, within the limits of the resources available, to do public relations tasks with the funds and staff at their disposal.
§ Dr. VaughanDoes the Secretary of State agree with the view of the Royal College of Surgeons that low morale is one of the problems in the NHS? Would he agree that public relations officers are not the answer to this problem? The best way to overcome it is to have better relations between himself and the health staff.
§ Mr. EnnalsI shall certainly not comment on all the published evidence to the Royal Commission, and I am getting tired of evidence which starts off with the assumption that the NHS is on the brink of disaster. It is in no such situation. The NHS is facing major problems but it is trying to face them realistically. No service is done to the National Health Service or to patients by exaggerating the situation.
§ Mr. PavittDoes the Secretary of State recall that the previous Administration paid £250,000 to a firm of consultants, namely, McKinsey and Co., to reorganise the Health Service? That reorganisation has proved an unmitigated disaster, and the firm in question now says that it gave the wrong advice. Would my right hon. Friend seek to get back the £250,000 of the taxpayers' money?
§ Mr. EnnalsI thought that it was quite remarkable that the firm which assisted the former Conservative Secretary of State in his efforts now recognises that the reorganisation was a disaster. I think that all of us are suffering as a result. Every time I hear Conservatives criticising the extent of administration within the Health Service I think that everyone should recognise that they imposed the system on us. I will not accept criticism from them, and I have to fight very hard to squeeze to the minimum the management costs for the efficient administration of the NHS. It is significant that no one has yet defended the position of the previous Conservative Secretary of State.
§ Mr. Patrick JenkinIs the Secretary of State aware that his immediate predecessor said in a document entitled "Health and Prevention" that the reorganisation had enabled the Department of Health for the first time to organise priorities and the effective allocation of resources within the NHS? Will he at least acknowledge that?
§ Mr. EnnalsI very rarely hear right hon. and hon. Members opposite talking about planning with such warm enthusiasm. I have not sought to condemn every aspect of the reorganisation. It is perfectly true that planning can be done more effectively as a result of the reorganisation. We knew that the NHS needed to be reorganised, and the time may come when further changes must be made. But it would be very unwise for any Secretary of State now to throw the Health Service into a new traumatic reorganisation, and it certainly would not be in the interests of the patients.
§ Mrs. CastleIs my right hon. Friend aware that the right hon. Member for Wanstead and Woodford (Mr. Jenkin) typically has taken a sentence out of context?
§ Mr. Patrick JenkinNo.
§ Mrs. CastleYes, it was taken out of context in order to distort the whole of the theme which I deployed on these matters when I was Secretary of State—namely, that the reorganisation of the NHS carried out by our predecessors in office was a management disaster.
§ Mr. EnnalsI am so used to the right hon. Gentleman taking statements out of context that I did not even deign to comment.