§ 2.37 p.m.
§ LORD STONHAMMy Lords, I beg leave to ask the Question which stands in my name on the Order Paper.
§ [The Question was as follows:
§ To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they are aware that, owing to the acute shortage of pharmacists, hospitals throughout the country are unable to dispense prescriptions for a large proportion of patients; that, in particular, St. Thomas's Hospital has had to suspend dispensing for outpatients, and, since this involves a considerable increased cost to the Exchequer, what steps they are taking to improve the recruitment of hospital pharmacists.]
§ LORD NEWTONMy Lords, only a small minority of hospital out-patient prescriptions are dispensed by retail chemists, and this is rarely because of staff shortage. St. Thomas's Hospital has temporarily closed its out-patient dispensary because several of the staff happened to leave simultaneously. The Board of Governors have been asked to reopen it as soon as possible. The shortage of pharmacists throughout the country affects retail business and industry as well as the Hospital Service. The salaries of hospital pharmacists were increased with effect from January 1, 1960, by about 14 per cent. and during 1960 the number of pharmacists in National Health Service hospitals increased from 1,348 to 1,444, the largest increase in a single year for several years.
§ LORD STONHAMMy Lords, is the noble Lord aware that that kind of "stone-walling" Answer would have been more useful to-day at Lord's than here? Is he further aware that at St. Thomas's 15,000 prescriptions per month will have to be sent to chemists, which will mean an extra cost to the Exchequer at the rate of £30,000 a year? Would it not be much better and much cheaper to pay hospital pharmacists salaries comparable to those paid by retail chemists, so that we can have pharmacists in hospitals?
§ LORD NEWTONMy Lords, I do not think that my Answer was a "stonewalling" Answer at all. I was trying to give a factual Answer to the noble Lord's Question. As I said, only a small minority of hospital out-patient prescriptions are dispensed by retail chemists. To go into greater detail, about 188 hospital authorities resort regularly to retail prescriptions, but in many cases only in detached clinics, such as child guidance clinics, or in evening clinics where it would be inconvenient for patients to attend the hospital dispensary. About 700,000 retail prescription forms are used each year. This is a very small proportion of the total number dispensed.
As regards salaries, the new scales which were introduced with effect from January 1, 1960, range from £690 to £1,560 at the maximum, and many chief pharmacists receive additional allowances. There are now posts in the Hospital Pharmaceutical Service which carry a total remuneration rising to £2,000 or more a year. A claim submitted in May of this year to the appropriate Whitley Council For increases ranging from 14 to 42 per cent. on the present salary scales is now being considered by the management side.
§ Lotto STONHAMMy Lords, I am most grateful to the noble Lord for his fuller answer. But would he convey to his right honourable friend that there is general uneasiness throughout the hospital world on this subject? With regard to St. Thomas's, their pharmaceutical department is working at half-strength and they may have to close some departments. It is no use building a £7 million hospital if you have not the staff to service the departments.
§ LORD NEWTONMy Lords, I do not think it is quite true to say that St. Thomas's is now working at half-strength. What happened was that 5 out of 8 pharmacists in the basic grade left simultaneously at the beginning of June. Perhaps I may remind the noble Lord that we fully discussed this question of the remuneration of all the professional staffs in hospitals during our debate in your Lordships' House on April 26.