NURSING HOMES REGISTRATION (SCOTLAND) BILL. (Hansard, 14 July 1938)

LORD ALNESS

My Lords, the principal purpose of this Bill, which was piloted through another place by my honourable friend the Member for South Aberdeen (Sir Douglas Thomson), is to require every nursing home in Scotland to be registered, and to make it an offence in that country to carry on a pursing home without registration. It contains certain ancillary provisions, to which, with your Lordships' permission, I shall in a moment refer. There are one or two considerations which absolve me from making any considerable inroad upon your Lordships' time in commending the Bill to your acceptance for Second Reading, and I feel that that is desirable, particularly having in mind the important business of the House which follows.

The considerations are these. If this measure becomes law it will have the effect of bringing the law of Scotland into conformity with the law of England as it has existed for several years. In Scotland, for a number of years, maternity homes have been registrable, 830 but nursing homes have not. Since 1927 maternity homes have been registrable in Scotland. This Bill proposes to repeal the Act of 1927, and to make all nursing homes in Scotland subject to one code, as is the case in England to-day, and so to round off the system of incomplete registration in Scotland to-day. That is the first consideration—namely, that this Bill will bring the law of the two countries into complete harmony. The second consideration is that the Bill passed through another place with the substantial agreement of all Parties. There was no Division, either in the House or in Committee, during the various stages of the Bill. And the third consideration is that the Bill not only enjoys the support of many important and influential organisations in Scotland but is also endorsed by the Scottish Office.

Perhaps your Lordships will allow me to make one or two general observations upon the merits of the Bill before I run through its various clauses. There are many good nursing homes in Scotland to-day. I am quite sure that they will welcome the passage of this measure. They have nothing to fear from investigation or from inspection, and I feel certain that in that quarter the measure will have full support. There are other nursing homes which are not quite so good. Nursing homes as a rule, of course, are run for profit. While that is by no means a reprehensible motive, nevertheless it does tend to prevent these homes from attaining the ideals which one would desire. Sometimes, in order to increase the profit, there is a tendency to run those institutions with an insufficient number of nurses, or with nurses who are not fully qualified. That is not only unfair to the patients, but it tends to the exploitation of the nurses concerned, and it throws a quite unwarrantable and unnecessary burden of responsibility upon the matron of a home. In these cases a certain measure of control is highly desirable. There is a third class. There are some homes which are frankly bad, and if there are any such in Scotland, it is high time, in the public and private interest, that they should be controlled, if not indeed altogether suppressed. I hope that this Bill will place the nursing homes of Scotland upon a safe and secure foundation—much more safe and much more secure than if they were left entirely to their own devices.

831 I have only three further observations to make before I pass to the Bill itself. The first observation I desire to make is this. There is no desire on the part of the promoters to institute anything resembling an inquisitorial or spying system. The history of the working of the English Act is sufficient to negative any such suggestion. The second point is that I am advised that the cost of working this measure throughout Scotland will not amount to more than £1,000 sterling, which seems to me a very modest sum to pay for the benefits which will enure from the provisions of the Bill. The last observation I would make is this. I happen to be Chairman of a Departmental Nursing Committee in Scotland at this moment, and, while it would be quite improper to refer to the merits of that inquiry in advance of the Report which is to be issued, I do feel at liberty to say that my experience as Chairman of that Committee has convinced me more firmly than ever, not only of the desirability but of the necessity of registering these nursing homes.

With your Lordships' permission I pass for a single moment to the Bill itself. It is not a long measure. It consists of ten clauses. The first clause makes it an offence to conduct a nursing home in Scotland which is not registered, and subjects the offender for the first offence to a penalty not exceeding £50. Clause 2 provides for the cancellation of a certificate of registration. Clause 3 prescribes the conditions precedent either to cancelling the certificate of registration or refusing to grant it. Clause 4 empowers the Department of Health in Scotland to make regulations with regard to nursing homes. Clause 5 provides for the inspection of these institutions at all reasonable hours by qualified persons. Clause 6, which is perhaps one of the most important clauses in the Bill, empowers the Department of Health to exempt from the operation of this measure any institution which is not run for a profit. I think it proper that I should at this stage inform your Lordships that, in accordance with an undertaking given by the promoter of the Bill in another place, and in accordance also with the provisions of the corresponding English Act, I propose to move an Amendment in Committee providing that 832 nursing homes of the Church of Christ Scientist may be exempted from the operation of the Statute. Clause 7 provides for penalties to be imposed for infraction of the provisions of the Bill. Clause 8 provides in the usual way for the expenses of working the Bill. Clause 9 is definitive in its character. Clause 10 prescribes the Title of the Bill, and also indicates that it shall come into operation on January 1, 1939. I commend the Bill to your Lordships' assent and acceptance, feeling quite confident that you are dealing with a modest but valuable measure, which has been well conceived and well carried out. I beg to move.