HC Deb 10 June 1986 vol 99 c178 3.33 pm
Mr. Dennis Canavan (Falkirk, West)

I beg to ask leave to move the Adjournment of the House, under Standing Order No. 10, for the purpose of discussing a specific and important matter that should have urgent consideration, namely, the need for an inquiry into the conditions of patients and staff in hospitals for the mentally handicapped in view of the revelations of the World in Action television programme which was broadcast last night. Millions of people must have been angered and sickened by what they saw on television last night, and we in this House would be failing in our duty if we did not make some immediate response. The programme referred to the filthy conditions, the dilapidated buildings, the overcrowding, the lack of basic amenities and the severe staff shortages in institutions which are supposed to care for some of the most deserving people in our society. Reference was also made to the deaths of five patients and a nurse at the Royal Scottish National hospital in Larbert, in my constituency. As far as I can ascertain, no fatal accident inquiries were held into any of those deaths. The programme suggested that the staff shortage at the RSNH may have been a contributory factor to some of the deaths.

The Royal Scottish National hospital is not unique. Lennox Castle hospital, a similar institution, which is short of at least 200 nurses, was described on the programme as similar to a prisoner-of-war camp and little more than a warehouse for the long-term storage of human beings. Most disturbing of all, the Government have apparently known about those intolerable conditions for some time but have tried to cover them up. Last August, the chairman of the Mental Welfare Commission for Scotland wrote privately to the Secretary of State for Scotland about the Duich ward at the Royal Scottish National hospital in the following terms: This must be one of the worst wards the Commission has visited in mental deficiency hospitals in Scotland". The Government's gross negligence and unforgivable failure to provide adequate staffing and other resources for those patients cannot be ignored by the House. I submit that the need for a public inquiry should have urgent consideration.

Mr. Speaker

The hon. Member for Falkirk, West (Mr. Canavan) asks leave to move the Adjournment of the House under Standing Order No. 10 for the purpose of discussing a specific and important matter that he thinks should have urgent consideration, namely, the need for an inquiry into conditions of patients and staff in hospitals for the mentally handicapped in view of the revelations in the World in Action television programme broadcast last night. I have listened with great care to what the hon. Member has said, but I regret that I do not consider that the matter he has raised is appropriate for discussion under Standing Order No. 10. Therefore, I cannot submit his application to the House.